


I Love You

by kaliebee



Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: F/M, First Dates, Holidays, Meeting the Family, Secret Relationship, not great at tags but let's give this a shot?, revealed secret relationship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-21
Updated: 2017-12-25
Packaged: 2019-02-17 23:25:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 24,868
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13087638
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kaliebee/pseuds/kaliebee
Summary: Last time she didn't say I Love You he got poisoned on a case and could have been killed. Never again will she let him work on a case without hearing her say I Love You before he gets to work. Never again./ Valerie finally gets a hold of Reid to tell him she loves him before the case, but things don't go exactly as planned. Now an extremely out-of-order series of one-shots about their lives together!





	1. I Love You- Part One

_**Takes Place In: Season Five** _

 

She feels a light hand on her shoulder and lets out a hum of annoyance. “Valerie? Sweetie, I have to go to work.”

Valerie Janes ignores her boyfriend and burrows deeper into their shared bed. “Go-oh away…” She trails off, sleep beginning to reclaim her easily.

There’s a sigh and the last thing she hears is a whispered, “I love you Val,” and a light peck on her forehead before falling completely into the abyss.

_~o~_

Light.

Jeez, it's _way_ too bright in her room. Why is it so bright? It can’t actually be morning, right? Val glances at her alarm clock and groans loudly, covering her face with her hands. 6:30, almost an hour earlier than she’d usually get up. She doesn’t have to open the bookstore until 9, which means she’ll have more than enough time to get ready. She hums quietly and turns around, ready to scoot closer to Spencer to get some prime cuddling in. But all that awaits her on the other side of the bed is…. nothing.

“Spence?” Val mutters, pushing herself up on her elbows and looking around the room groggily. Spence usually stays up late and sleeps late, or at least until his alarm clock goes off. “Spence, where are you?”

The apartment is silent as she gets to her feet, slides on her slippers, and pulls the sleeve of her top higher up. “Babe?” Val pulls her brush through her hair as she pads through the apartment. Spencer’s jacket is gone and his wallet isn’t on the coffee table like it usually is. Most of the time when Spencer wakes up before her, he’ll go out and get donuts- chocolate icing and vanilla creme in the middle, her absolute favorite.

“He better be getting me donuts or else I’ll castrate him,” she murmurs before going and getting in the shower. Almost forty-five minutes later she emerges, getting dressed quickly and blow drying her hair. “Spencer, you home yet?”

The apartment is quiet and she can feel her stomach beginning to twist as nobody answers her. She tries to shrug it off, finishes getting ready before going on a search for her boyfriend, which yields no results. Val can feel her fingers beginning to tap against her jeans, a sure-fire sign that her anxiety is starting to act up. Usually it takes a lot to get it going, but today she seems to be more on edge than usual. She prepares breakfast, checks her phone. Nothing. Not even a text. A relationship of a year, eight months, and four days, and he never leaves her hanging. It was one of the first things she made obvious to him: she couldn’t be left out of the loop. She wouldn’t be able to be okay if she didn’t have an idea of what he was doing, especially not with his job. And he knows that.

Val begins her search for a note, because honestly, he’s Spencer Reid, resident technophobe. If he didn’t text her or wake her up then he had to have left a note. It only takes her a couple minutes to find it under a copy of her favorite book, on the back of a receipt for the Chinese takeout they’d gotten yesterday. _Got called into work. Tried to wake you up but you fell back asleep so I didn’t bother. I’ll hopefully be home in a couple of days, but I’ll call you tonight. Love you._ -Spencer(3:43) Her heart races as she glances at the time. He left five hours ago, he’s got to be on the jet by now, possibly even at the case site.

She brings up his contact and presses the phone, listening to the ringing for a bit and then finally, “ _Hello, you’ve reached Spencer Reid. I can’t come to the phone right now, so leave a message with your name and number and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can._ ” She groans quietly as the it beeps in her ear. “Hey babe, I just read your note. Um… just-just call me back as soon as possible, yeah? I love you. And expect numerous phone calls from me until you answer, okay?”

He’s going to lose it when he sees the amount of phone calls she’s about to leave him, considering she didn’t get to say I Love You and he’s on a case and she has to say I Love You because who knows what could happen to him?

Last time she didn’t say I Love You he got poisoned on a case and could have been killed.

Never again will she let him work on a case without hearing her say I Love You before he gets to work.

Never again.

_~o~_

His phone vibrates. The team is discussing the brutality of the kills together and the coroner is supposed to be calling soon, so he doesn’t bother to look at the Caller ID as he answers it, puts it on speaker, and sets it in the middle of the table. “Hi, Doct-”

“ _Spencer Reid, I swear I’m going to castrate you!_ ” The entire team goes silent and Reid pales, immediately going to take it off of speakerphone, but then it’s too late. “ _You don’t just leave at three-forty-three in the morning and not fully wake me up! You know how I feel about you leaving ever since that stupid anthrax poisoning, you don’t leave without me telling you that I love y-_!”

JJ lets out a choked gasp and Val stops mid-word. Reid just closes his eyes, nods resignedly. “Sweetie, you’re on speaker.” It’s quiet for a moment while he tries his best to not meet anyone’s eyes. He can just imagine their faces: Morgan and Rossi smirking, JJ and Prentiss exchanging excited looks, Hotch looking like an annoyed dad at the disruption. Finally Valerie breathes out an awkward, “ _Oh… Hello_.”

“Hello there, ‘sweetie’. So, what’s your name?” Morgan questions, catching Reid’s eye and, just as he imagined, smirking widely.

But he can’t help but grin because no one besides Reid calls her sweetie. “ _First off, no one calls me sweetie besides my boyfriend, Chocolate Thunder._ ” He chokes on his laugh, knowing he’s going to pay for telling Val about Garcia’s nickname for Morgan. “ _Second, if you call me sweetie again, I’ll castrate you along with Spencer._ ” Morgan’s eyes are widening with every word Val speaks. “ _And third, the name is Janes. Valerie Janes._ ”

“Did you just reference James Bond?” Prentiss asks, a smile growing across her lips, a sure-fire sign that she likes Val.

“ _Yes, yes I did. And you’re either JJ or Prentiss, right? I’m guessing Prentiss though because I’ve heard JJ talking to Spence before and your voice is distinctly different, a bit more rough._ ”

Hotch raises an eyebrow at Reid while Prentiss blinks. “Yeah, yeah, I’m Emily Prentiss.”

“So, how long has Reid been hiding you from us?” JJ looks pointedly at Reid.

He blushes and stares at the ceiling, closing his eyes as he prepares for the onslaught. “ _A year, eight months, and four days_.”

“Wait, do you know the exact day you started dating?”

“ _Obviously. March 3, 2008_.”

Astonishment shines on JJ’s face. “I have to look at a calendar to know the month Will asked me out and you can just remember the precise date?”

Reid winces, already knowing exactly what Valerie is going to say. “ _Actually, I only remember it because it was also the day he read Wuthering Heights to me from memory._ ”

“Why does this not surprise us?" Morgan deadpans, glanicing at Reid with a mixture of ‘ _aw, the kid’s growing up_ ’ and ‘ _what the heck has he gotten himself into_ ’.

Rossi finally breaks into the conversation. “Okay, but can we get back to the fact that he hid this from us for a year and eight months?”

“ _And four days. Also, hi Rossi._ ”

“Val has a thing for voices. She can pick out who someone is based on their personality and how that translates to their voice,” he explains, answering everyone’s unasked question. “I’ve talked about you all enough that she can connect the dots.”

“Of course she can,” Rossi says dryly, and for a moment he thinks Rossi is being rude but then Reid sees the corner of his lips turned up slightly and can’t help but smile himself.

“ _I mean, I am pretty amazing. Aren’t I, Spence?_ ”

“Of course, Val.”

“ _Anyway, I need to get going, I have to open the shop in a couple minutes. Don’t get hurt on me, okay? Or else-_ ”

“You’ll castrate me?” He interrupts easily as he picks up his phone.

She laughs, a breathy, tinkling laugh that never fails to make him grin. Man, he loves this girl with a passion. “ _You catch on real fast, babe._ ”

“A year, eight months, and four days. Um, I’m going to take you off of speaker now, say goodbye to the team.”

“ _Bye team! And Hotch, who I’m pretty sure is there so I’m highly offended he never said anything to me._ ”

“Goodbye Valerie Janes.” Reid glances at his boss in surprise because the man actually said that with a bit of humor in his voice and a small grin gracing his lips.

“ _Bye Hotch_!”

He can’t help but smile as he puts the phone up to his ear and walks into the hallway. “Just me now sweetie.”

He can almost imagine Val holding her phone with her shoulder as she puts books on the shelves. “ _Hello there, Boy Wonder._ ”

Reid flinches, remembering the day he made the mistake of telling a story in which Garcia called him Boy Wonder. It might just be his biggest regret besides the fight the day of the anthrax poisoning. “Morgan already calls me Boy Wonder, I don’t need you calling me that too.”

“ _Spence, babe, I’ll call you anything I want to call you. Like, Boy Genius, Mr. Eidetic Memory, Dr. 187_ -”

“I’m sorry I left without waking you up.” The mood shifts dramatically as she goes quiet. He can feel himself starting to become jumpy, shifting his weight from one foot to the other, chewing on his lip. “Val?”

He hears her breathe out, light and shaky. “ _You know- you know I have to tell you I love you. Ever since the poisoning_ -”

“I know. I just really wanted you to get some sleep, that doesn’t happen often.”

“ _Why weren’t you answering your phone? I called you like four other times_.”

“I had my phone on silent while we talking to the victim’s siblings. I only just turned on vibrate, I was waiting for a call from the coroner. That would be why you were on speaker.”

“ _I’m sorry I outed us to your teammates_.”

He smiles gently. “It’s fine, sweetie. We were talking about possibly telling them soon anyway, it just happened sooner than planned.”

“ _Yeah, I guess so_.” They’re both quiet until finally Val says, “ _I have to go, I’ve got a customer_.”

“Okay. I love you.”

“ _I love you too._ ” He presses end, looks at her contact photo for a moment. She looks beautiful, with her dark hair framing her face, clear eyes bright as she took the selfie. Man, he loves her. Reid slides his phone into his pocket after double checking that it’s on vibrate so that he’ll feel it when the coroner actually calls. He mentally prepares himself- oh lord, Garcia’s going to murder him when she finds out- before finally walking back into the room. “ _A year, eight months, and four days_?”


	2. I Love You- Part Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Spencer gets called out by Penelope and Valerie finally meets the team.

“ _Spencer Reid_!”

Reid jumps, his file slipping out of his hand and onto the floor, papers flying around. He feels his heart speed up as footsteps echo down the hallway, quick and loud.

Penelope Garcia.

“You better run, Pretty Boy,” Morgan laughs as he hurriedly tries to force his papers into the file in a somewhat neat fashion.

“I’ll never escape Penelope Garcia’s wrath, but it’ll be best not to have her yelling at me in the middle of the bullpen-”

“Reid!”

He freezes in a kneel, slowly looking up as Garcia stomps into the bullpen, eyes connecting quickly with her. “You've had a girlfriend for a _year_?”

“And eight months,” Prentiss adds, grinning widely as Garcia’s eyes flash.

JJ smirks. “And six days.” He begins to legitimately fear for his life.

She’s quiet for one second, two. He begins to think he might be safe and starts to straighten up, but then she squeaks, “Don’t move!” and he freezes in a squat. “How did you hide it from us?”

“Can I move?” he asks carefully, evaluating her body language. If he doesn’t play his cards right, she might actually kill him.

She glares at him, arms crossed over her chest in annoyance. “Only after you tell us.”

Reid shrugs the slightest bit, tries to ignore the entire BAU’s snickers at his stance. “I mostly just evaluated my responses to questions and statements asked when I was single and modified them to fit questions asked now that I’m with Valerie. I made sure never to lie, just tell half-truths. Though I know at one point or another Rossi and JJ both thought I was dating someone, but then after modifying my behavior and going out with the team after a couple cases they seemed to stop thinking I was seeing someone.” He sends a forced smile towards Garcia. “May I stand now?”

“You hid Valerie from us for almost two years!” She exclaims, seemingly ignoring his explanation and looking around the room as if the walls would show her what she missed. “Why would you do that? We’re your best friends, don’t you think we should know about someone so important that she has to tell you she loves before every case?”

Reid glances at Morgan, narrows his eyes. “What didn’t you tell her?”

“He told me everything, including the fact that your girlfriend called my love Chocolate Thunder. Now, please, tell me how she found out about that?”

“I was telling her about a case. That was part of it.”

“What, did you just recite the entire conversation?” Rossi questions from where he’s leaning against Prentiss’ desk while she looks on with a cat-like grin.

“Yes?”

“Of course you did.” Garcia waves her hands, looking at Reid like he’s insane. “Yes, okay, but why did she call him Chocolate Thunder? Only I’m supposed to do that, that’s our thing, not hers, she’s not allowed to do that.”

He blinks, glances from Morgan to Garcia. “He called her sweetie. Only I call her sweetie.”

She twirls around to glare at him and JJ lets out a low whistle. “Oh, you’re in trouble.”

Morgan backs up, hands up in surrender. “Woah, Babygirl, you know I was just making fun of Reid, right? He’d just called her sweetie, I was teasing them-”

Reid feels his phone vibrate and slowly pulls it out, making sure that Garcia is fully focused on ranting at Morgan before glancing at the screen. Anastasia Steele: _Hey babe, when’re you going to be home? Last time I cooked I almost burned down the apartment, if you’ve forgotten, and neither of us want to go through that again._

His lips pull into a smile as he quickly replies saying he’ll bring home Mexican, does she want her usual or will she be adventurous for once? Because really, when it comes to food, Val refuses to be adventurous, but with anything else? Let’s do it!

“Reid!” He glances up from his phone to see the team staring at him, even Hotch, who’s finally left his office for this little spectacle. “Yes?”

JJ grins eagerly, bouncing slightly in her seat. His stomach drops. “You,” she points her pen at him, “are going out to dinner with all of us.”

“But-”

“And you’re inviting Miss Valerie Janes.”

“I am?” His voice cracks as he raises an eyebrow, looks over at Hotch with wide eyes. His mentor’s lips twitch and that’s when he knows he’s not winning this.

“Yes, yes you are,” Garcia answers, her lips pulling into a wide smile as he finally straightens up.

“You hid her from us for almost two years-”

“One year, eight months, and six days!”

“-and it past time for us to meet her! So we are all going to get dinner together and maybe do something else afterwards if she wants to, and we are going to learn all we can about her!”

He blinks, once, twice. “But we’ve already got plans-”

“Somehow I highly doubt that,” Morgan deadpans, grinning evilly in Reid’s opinion. “Now, call her and if she can, we’re all going to meet anywhere she wants to go for dinner. And call her in front of us.”

Reid sighs before giving in and pulling out his phone. There’s no way they’re getting out of this.

_~o~_

Valerie lets out a loud sigh as she pulls yet another dress off and tosses it onto her bed. Seriously, getting ready to go get Mexican with her boyfriend’s friends should not be this difficult, and yet, here she is, discarding her thirteenth dress.

She glances at her clock. 6:20, which gives her ten minutes to finish get ready and five to get to the subway station, and here she is, in her bra and underwear, still trying to find something to wear. Usually she prides herself on not being a stereotypical girl, but _jesus_ , this is so _difficult._

“Alright, that’s it. Grab something cute and let’s go,” she says out loud to herself. “Something cute” turns out to be a plaid dress with a belt around the waist, fishnet stockings, and her signature Converse because she may be trying to impress her boyfriend’s family but there is no way in heck she’ll be ditching her signature piece. Five minutes later she’s rushing out the door, doubling back for her purse, then back out and to the station.

Finally she makes it to the restaurant, a good ten minutes late because the subway was late and the idea of her running is, frankly, quite laughable. She takes a second to look at herself in the window and fluff her hair a little before taking a deep breath and stepping inside. It only takes a quick scan of the restaurant for Val’s eyes to fall on Spencer. She takes a moment just to stand a watch them all interact together, take in their dynamic. He laughs at something Derek Morgan says, rolls his eyes at Jennifer Jareau. David Rossi nudges him, says something that makes the tips of his ears flame. Emily Prentiss chats with Aaron Hotchner, says something that causes him to raise an eyebrow towards Penelope Garcia. God, they really are his family.

And thank god Spencer’s shown her pictures of the team because she would not have been prepared for introductions. Suddenly Spencer looks her way and she can’t help the shy smile that flits across her lips as his eyes light up. “Val!”

Everyone’s eyes turn her way and she sees Garcia hit the table and say something that makes Morgan choke on whatever he’s drinking. Val tries to ignore her nerves and smoothly weaves through the tables. She bends down and kisses Spencer’s cheek before sliding in between him and Garcia, which she’s sure was completely on purpose. “Hey everyone.”

The table is quiet for one second, two, and she begins to wonder if maybe she made a mistake, did something that made them all hate her in the literal two seconds she’s been here. And then she realizes that that is completely ridiculous when Garcia says, “Hi! My name is Penelope, Penelope Garcia. You’re Valerie Janes, right? I’ve been waiting so long for our boy genius to finally get a girlfriend, I’m not sure how exactly to act, this is a new experience.” Suddenly her face contorts into embarrassment as Spencer looks at the ceiling, seemingly giving up. “I’m sorry, that was rude. Anyway, how are you?”

Val glances from Spencer(who just sort of shrugs) before looking back at Garcia and smiling, albeit a bit awkwardly. “Okay, I guess? This is a bit nerve wracking, I know you’re all pretty much his family and your opinions matter a lot. Though, can I ask what you said to make Morgan choke when you saw me?”

Immediately Morgan bursts into laughter while Garcia’s cheeks flush. “I- um-”

“I think you’ve actually managed to render Garcia speechless,” Hotch jokes easily and she can’t help the warm feeling from knowing that Hotch is actually not robot.

Val grins. “From what Spence has told me, that’s quite the accomplishment.”

“She said, and I quote: ‘Holy mother of God, she is way out of your league Kid’,” Rossi interjects and she chokes on her water as Garcia covers her face with her hands.

“I didn’t- I- ugh, I didn’t mean it like that!”

Val smirks at her boyfriend and nudges him gently, watches him roll his eyes before she even says anything. “Well, I mean, I’ve been saying that since day one, but it’s nice to hear someone else agree. Though in some cases he really one-ups me, especially when-”

“Valerie!” Spencer snaps, looking at her with wide eyes. “PG!”

“Shut up, I was going to say when you start rambling on about random trivia. What did you think I was going to say?” He raises an eyebrow and it doesn’t take much for her to remember exactly what went down the night before he left on that case. “Oh, right. That is most definitely not PG, that’s like, rated R.”

“ _Val_!”

“Sorry, sorry, no filter, still working on that.” She clears her throat and stares down at the menu, trying her best to shield herself from everyone’s eyes with her hair. “So, um, have you already ordered?”

“No, actually. Thanks for the reminder though, I’ll flag down a waiter,” she hears Morgan reply before the table goes quiet again. And then, finally the waiter arrives and everyone rattles off their orders. The second Garcia is done ordering she turns on Valerie, eyes alight with excitement. “How did you and Reid meet?”

She rolls her eyes at Spencer, who broke into a grin as soon as Garcia said ‘meet’. “Hmm, that’s quite the story. So I own this bookshop, right? And one weekend this guy comes in. And of course my first thoughts are _Holy shit this guy’s a giant, what the hell_. _Somewhere out there are two parents who did wayyy too good job a one night and one day I need to find them and thank them for their contributions to society._ ”

Hotch raises an eyebrow towards Spencer. “‘Contributions to society’, huh?” Spence just blushes.

“Then the giant goes and picks like ten different books off the shelves and then my thoughts are _ka-ching_! And then I regret putting in a reading corner because he just flops into a beanbag chair and starts reading and I curse myself for trying to be a decent person and not making people _have_ to buy books, even though it’s a bookshop. But he can’t read all of those books before closing, right? They’re all huge, the most he could finish are two or three which means I’ll still get quite the haul, you know?”

“Let me guess, he completely burst your bubble?” Rossi says, sending an amused look her boyfriend’s way. He just smiles and shrugs.

Valerie rolls her eyes. “Let’s just say, after I had read a hundred pages of my own book, he was working on a second stack and I was pissed off. I watched him for a good five minutes and he’s just-” She mimes flipping through a book at a rapid pace.

“Yeah, he tends to do that.”

“Hmm, I’ve noticed. So I go over there and sit in front of him and watch his eyes scan for the pages for at least ten minutes before he notices me and then he looks slightly disturbed and I regret doing anything but before I can leave this giant alone I just have to know whether he’s actually absorbing anything, you know? So I take the very first book he read, _Wuthering Heights_ , out of the stack and tell him to tell me what happens in the first chapter. And you want to know what this twat does?”

“Recites it from memory?” Hotch answers right as she exclaims, “He recites it from memory!” She smiles sheepishly. “Um, yeah. But yeah, so I’m in complete awe and since there’s no one in the store I make him recite literally the entire book. It took him an hour to recite all of it and that’s only because I occasionally made him slow down because he was speaking wayy too fast. And then I just stare at him for a minute and he looks highly uncomfortable and my filter decides to short out and I say, ‘Marry me?’”

“You didn’t!” Garcia squeals, hitting the table and bouncing in her seat excitedly.

“I did! And he just kind of-” She mimics the way his eyes widened and slight terror danced across his face. “And then I realized he couldn’t tell whether I was kidding or not so I had to quickly backtrack, excuse myself, and then go to hide behind the counter. We don’t talk to each other for like, the next two hours and I’m reading and when I read I can never get comfortable, you know? And so he finally comes to ring up some books and of course I’m literally hanging off of the counter upside down and so I’m really quick to try and sit up because _heck hot giant is back and wants to actually buy something don’t mess this up_.”

“I’m going to guess you messed it up?” JJ smirks.

Spence laughs and nods quickly. “Oh, yes she did.”

“Shut up, it wasn’t that bad.”

“All the blood rushed to your head at once and you almost knocked yourself out on the cash register.”

“Hey look, food’s here!” Val crows quickly as the entire table bursts into laughter and she blushes, trying her hardest to deflect the attention onto the food. Well, at least everyone knows she’s good comedic entertainment even if they don’t like her.

_~o~_

“Okay, we are meeting up as soon as possible for a girls’ night,” Garcia announces as she pulls Val in for a hug, squeezing her tightly.

“Sure- but- can’t- breathe.”

JJ chuckles as she pulls Garcia’s arms away from Val. “Don’t kill the girl, we only just met her.”

Garcia grins sheepishly as Valerie straightens her dress and pushes her hair out of her face. “Sorry, I just- I’m really happy Reid found you. You seem really great, and honestly, Reid deserves someone amazing.”

Prentiss steps closer to them as the guys talk among themselves a couple feet away. Val swallows roughly when she sees her hand against a bump on her hip, presumably her gun. “But mind you, Valerie Janes, if you hurt him, you will have the wrath of the entire BAU to suffer. And we all have guns.”

“What she’s trying to say,” Garcia interrupts, rolling her eyes at Prentiss’s dramatics, “is that if you hurt Reid your chances of future happiness will be lower than those boy’s jeans.” Val glances over her shoulder and cringes at how low his jeans are before looking back at the girls. Her lip twitches as she cocks her head at the three girls, nods. “Believe me, if I hurt Spencer then I don’t deserve future happiness. Let the wrath of the BAU come upon me.”

“Good answer.” JJ glances down at her phone and raises an eyebrow. “I need to get going, I told Will I’d be home in time to read Henry a bedtime story.”

Garcia quickly hugs her as Prentiss says, “See you at work tomorrow. I mean, if you make it, considering last time you and Will-”

“Emily!” Valerie can’t help but laugh as JJ blushes and slaps her playfully, smiling widely.

“Sorry, sorry.”

“Val, you almost ready?” Spencer calls from where he’s standing with guys.

She nods, runs a hand through her hair. “Yeah, just give me a second.” She turns to the other girls and bites her lip nervously. “I’m promising not to hurt Spencer, so please, promise me this: you won’t let him get hurt.”

She watches their faces fall as they exchange hesitant glances. She can tell they don’t want to burst her bubble, and the rational part of her knows this, but she’s desperate. “Valerie, we can’t promise that,” Garcia says gently, looking upset at this knowledge.

“It’s a hazard of the job,” Prentiss adds, pursing her lips.

She lets out a shaky breath, drums her fingers against her other wrist. “I know, I know, I just- please, just do your best. I can’t lose him, not like I- like I almost did. The anthrax poisoning… it was terrifying. I almost lost him, I can’t go through that again. I can’t.”

JJ chews on her lip, looks at the other two women before nodding. “We’ll try our hardest. I promise.”

Val forces her fingers to stop moving. “Okay. I can take that.” She takes a deep breath, releases it between barely parted lips. “I can take that.” She smiles, ignores the others’ nervous glances as she strides towards the men. “I’m ready to go,” she announces, entwining her hand in her boyfriend’s.

“Then we should get going. I’ll see you all at work tomorrow, yeah?” Everyone choruses their goodbyes, promises to keep in contact, Garcia tells her that she’ll call her tomorrow to schedule a girls’ night. And then the two of them are walking away from the group and Valerie leans against Spencer, feeling like a huge weight has been taken off of her chest. “Holy crap, that was terrifying.”

He chuckles and shakes his head. “Val, you did amazing. They all love you!”

“Yeah, I know that, it’s just…. They’re your family, you know? I spent that entire dinner trying to make sure I didn’t mess up because I know how much their opinion means to you. If they didn’t approve of me there would be a great chance we wouldn’t work overall.” He opens his mouth to argue and she quickly stops moving and covers his mouth, pulls him to look at her. He quirks an eyebrow and goes to pull her hand off, but before he can she continues talking. “I know you think otherwise, but you’ve talked to me about them before. Morgan and JJ are practically your siblings, Hotch is like the dad, Prentiss is the cousin that’s over 24/7, and Rossi’s the cool uncle of the family. Oh, and Garcia is the kid from across the street that just sort of shows up out of nowhere and nobody really questions it.” Spencer cocks his head and she quickly shakes her head, getting back on track. “Anyway, if any of them didn’t approve you’d have doubts and we probably wouldn’t work. Which is why I’m so happy they do like me. And I like them too, they’re all great and I’m happy you have them. So don’t worry, okay?”

Spencer finally reaches up and pulls her hand off his lips. “Sweetie, I wasn’t worried in the slightest. But now that you’ve gotten that out of your system, can we continue walking? It’s cold and we already missed the subway, we have to walk.” She stares up at him for one minute, two. _Thank god they approve because there’s no way I can lose him_.

“Val?”

Valerie finally nods. “Yeah, sure.” Then she lets a devilish smirk dance across her lips and quickly darts behind him, easily latching onto his back. “Onwards, my dashing Boy Wonder!”

“ _Val_!”

Behind them, the rest of the team watches them as Reid almost buckles under Valerie’s weight but manages to get a handle on his balance. Morgan grins as, under his girlfriend’s direct orders, he breaks into an awkward run that really doesn’t last long before he slows to a walk. They can hear her squeals and screeching laughter as the duo turns a corner and disappear from sight.

They’re all fairly quiet until finally Hotch says, “They’re going to be one of the lucky ones.”

JJ nods, a wide smile breaking across her lips. “Yeah, they are.”


	3. 50 Shades of Red

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Valerie decides it's time for Spencer to finally read the famous 50 Shades of Grey. Which he does. On the jet. Feet away from the team.

_**Takes Place In: Early Season Five; Pre-Team Knowing** _

_~o~_

"So you're telling me that you've never read _50 Shades of Grey_?" Valerie questions as she leans against the shop's counter, quirking an eyebrow.

Spencer cocks his head, dark eyes filled with confusion. "No? JJ mentioned it a few cases back when she was talking to Prentiss, but I've never read it."

She giggles, covering her mouth with her wrist as she shook her head. "You're going to read it, no arguments." Val makes a beeline for her most popular shelf and pulls a copy of the book out. "But you can't read it now, you have to wait and read it somewhere else."

"Why can't I read it now?"

"Because I said so." _Because I won't be able to stop laughing as I watch you._ "And you can't just read it in five minutes like you usually do, you have to slow down. Take at least twenty minutes." _Oh, he's going to hate me after this._ She can't help the smile that flits across her lips as she envisions the shock and slight terror on his face as he reads.

Spencer lets a groan escape his lips, allows the puppy eyes out as he pleads, "Val, you know-"

"That you hate reading slowly?" Val interrupts, grinning fondly at him. "Yeah, I know. But you're still going to listen to me because I know best."

"That's highly debatable."

"I will fight you."

"I will win."

" _That's_ highly debatable."

"Sweetie-"

Valerie lets out a sharp laugh as she drops the book on the counter and sits beside it. "Don't 'sweetie' me, we both know I could easily take you down without a sweat. I am strong, like Hulk." She fakes showing off her guns and Spencer is too busy laughing to fire back. It doesn't take long for her to join in; Spencer's laugh is infectious. It's one of her favorite things about him. And after dating him for six months, she's got quite the list.

Their laughter is cut short as Spencer's phone rings loudly, the Dr. Who theme song blaring from the speakers. "You're such a nerd," Val giggles as he holds a finger up to his lips before answering, "Dr. Reid." She watches as his face falls and feels her own smile follow as he says, "I'll be there in twenty. Bye Garcia."

"A case?" She questions, already knowing the answer. "But it's your day off."

"Serial killers could care less about it being my day off," Spencer quips, rolling his eyes.

Val bites her lips, sighs. "Yeah, yeah, whatever. Go kick some criminal ass for me, yeah?"

"All for you, sweetie."

"Better be, babe." She slides off the counter as presses a light kiss to his lips while simultaneously sliding _50 Shades_ into his messenger bag. "Have a nice read!"

Spencer grins and pats his bag. "You picked it out, it's sure to be great."

Oh, yes, it surely will be.

_~o~_

At first it's all good. After the briefing on the jet, Reid resigns himself to a spot on the couch and pulls out the book. He keeps himself from reading the summary on the back, knowing that Val prefers him to go into any book she recommends without any previous bias.

And so, he reads. Even at his slower than usual pace he manages to make it through the first one hundred pages fairly quickly. He can't say he's a huge fan so far, but something must be good about it or else Val wouldn't have recommended it.

And then he realizes why exactly she recommended it.

He can't help the high-pitched, choked "oh" that escapes his lips as he flips to page one hundred and eleven. It gets more and more descriptive and Reid may be twenty-eight but he did not prepare himself for this. He really shouldn't be reading this on the plane, not with the team just a couple feet away, but Val told him to and damned if he won't.

It's almost over and he's quietly thanking whatever deity blessed him with the strength to make it through when he hears, "Whatcha reading, Spence?"

Reid looks up, feels his cheeks redden. "Um-"

"Probably a textbook. Am I right, Pretty Boy?" Morgan flashes a smirk his way.

JJ twists her head to read the cover and he tries to hide it by shoving it into his lap, but Prentiss leans over and plucks it from his hands before he can. He looks down, cheeks turning the color of a tomato as Prentiss raises an eyebrow. "You're reading _50 Shades of Grey_?"

Rossi's head swivels to look at him with wide eyes. "Reid, you're reading an erotica novel?"

"I'm not- I mean- JJ mentioned it a couple cases ago- I was just curious!" The jet rings with laughter and Reid can even see Hotch grinning, just the slightest. _I am going to kill Valerie._

"I don't believe that, you've never read anything I've mentioned. So why this one?" JJ smiles teasingly, cocks her head. "Tell me, what made you read this one?"

Reid moves his hands wildly as he tries to explain himself without mentioning Val. "I was at a bookstore and when I saw it, I remembered you mentioning it and so I decided to buy it. That's it! Can we drop it now?"

Prentiss laughs as she tosses _50 Shades_ back to him. "Sure. Just make sure you're not too excited when we get there, the police department might think we're too unprofessional."

He shoves the paperback back into his bag as if it's burning him, embarrassment bubbling in the pit of his stomach. Reid can't remember the last time Morgan laughed this hard for this long, which means this might be a new record. He regrets letting this new record occur.

Reid spends the rest of the flight trying to avoid the team's eyes and ignore the random bursts of laughter every time someone looked at him. He makes sure he's the first one off the jet, leaving everybody in the dust as he makes his way to the cars.

Rossi raises an eyebrow as he walks beside JJ. "So, most likely a girl told him to read that."

"Oh, definitely."

"We're also never going to let him live this down, right?"

" _Definitely_."

_~o~_

Valerie smiles as she rings up a customer, an older woman named Agatha that comes in once a month and always leaves with a huge haul. "That'll be $63.99, Aggie."

Aggie slides her card across the table before looking around conspiratorially. "Where's the boyfriend of yours, Valerie? Isn't he supposed to be here today? I was looking forward to meeting him."

"Job pulled him away again." Aggie opens her mouth to say something probably along the lines of 'this is the third time I've tried to meet him!', so she quickly says, "He was honestly really excited to meet you, but duty calls. Lives to save and all that."

Aggie wrinkles her nose, distaste obvious. "Don't they ever give that doctor of yours a day off?"

She shrugs as she passes Aggie her bags, pursing her lips. "Thursday was supposed to be his day off, actually. This case was an emergency, they wouldn't have called if it wasn't." Val had hardly talked to him for the three days since, just gotten 'good morning/night' texts as reassurance that he was alive. She couldn't help it, she was really starting to miss him even though she was usually fine when he left. Of course, usually he called her anytime he was free, so there's that too.

The older woman nods ruefully, goes to speak, but then- "Valerie Janes!"

Val lights up as Spencer strides into the shop. "Spence!" Aggie moves out of the way just in time for her to slide across the counter and shoot into her boyfriend's arms, squeezing him tightly. "You were gone for _so long_."

"You made me read erotica!"

She pulls back, arms still wrapped around his neck as she grins sweetly. "Did you enjoy it?"

"I read it on the jet! The team figured it out! I spent the entire case trying my best not make eye contact with anyone, which became supremely more difficult when I had to share a room with Morgan! Do you know how much he made fun of me?"

Val tries her best to look apologetic. "Sorry?"

"Yeah, sure you are."

"You're right, I regret nothing." She presses a light kiss to his cheek before turning around and smiling widely at Aggie. "Aggie, this is Spencer Reid, my boyfriend. Spence, this is Agatha Mills, one of my favorite customers and honorary grandmother."

Spencer's cheeks darken as he finally realizes that Aggie is there. "Oh- hi. I didn't- I didn't see you-"

"Oh, I like him," Aggie says, grinning at Spencer. "He's dorky, just like you."

"Thank you?"

"It's a compliment," Val assures him lazily before smirking. "So, you never did answer my question. Did you like it?"

The blush that had just begun to fade comes back full force as he glances from Aggie to Val and back again. "I- um-"

"What'd you make him read?" Aggie questions, raising a barely-there eyebrow curiously.

" _50 Shades of Grey_."

"And from there I'll take my leave." Her honorary grandmother winks at the two of them and Val winks back while Spence's face turns a shade of red she's never seen before. Pretty sure she's never seen Spencer blush so much in the entire time they've been dating, this is quite entertaining.

Aggie whisks out of the store with a grace Val hopes to have when she's eighty-five, leaving the two of them alone in the shop. "I think you just turned…" She nudges his side, smiling teasingly. " _50 Shades of Red_."

"I'm breaking up with you," he says dryly, rolling his eyes.

"Come on, that was a good one!"

"Whatever you say sweetie."

"So…" She blinks rapidly while looking up at him from under her eyelashes, trying to do the whole 'look innocent yet sultry' thing. "Did you like it?"

"I can't say I did, but then again I've never been a huge fan of BDSM, personally."

She watches his Adam's apple bob as she slides her hand into his back pocket, pushing him closer to her while using the other to slide under his shirt. "You think you'd be up for trying it out? I've always thought that that could be pretty…" Val's lips touch his ear and she can hear his breath speeding up as she drags her finger across his chest, " _interesting_."

His voice is deeper than usual as he smirks down at her. "Hypothesis: I can learn to like BDSM. Shall we test it out?"

Val barely has enough time to flip the sign to _Closed_ before he's pulling out his handcuffs and leading her to her office.


	4. Shot Through the Leg, and You're To- Wait, You Got Shot?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Requested by ahowell1993 on fanfiction.net: What about a chapter that deals with Spencer getting shot in Nameless, Faceless since Spencer's teammates abandoned him in McLean to help Hotch?

**_Takes Place In: Season Five, Episode One; Pre-Team Knowing_ **

He's an hour late.

Valerie downs her second glass of wine, sighing heavily as she notices the waitress sending her a pitying glance. This is ridiculous! Spencer's almost always late, but he's never been more than fifteen minutes late, most definitely not an hour. The case must have dragged him away, but why wouldn't he have called her?

She raises a hand lazily and within a minute another glass of red wine is laid in front of her. Valerie's almost finished with it when her phone begins singing _Shot Through the Heart_ by Bon Jovi- her current favorite song, but it tends to change constantly-, flashing _Boy Wonder_ on the screen. She lets it ring for a couple seconds, ignoring the other patron's glares, before answering. "You're late."

Her boyfriend's voice is higher than usual, which is never a good sign. "Yeah, I'm really sorry about that. I got... tied up at work."

"You hesitated."

His voice is high, defensive. A sure sign that he's hiding something. "No I didn't!"

"You did. Now, why didn't you call me before I spent an hour waiting for you? I've had three glasses of wine and some bread sticks, I'm tipsy as fuck and you were supposed to be my ride home." She pauses. "Or to your apartment, either one would have worked. But no, I'm going to have drive myself home and quite possibly kill myself. So you better have a good reason for not being here."

"First of all, call Devin, you're not dying today. And second, I'm sorry sweetie, I couldn't call. I- I was sort of…" Spencer's voice trails off and Valerie feels her heart speed up anxiously.

"Spence, what exactly happened at work today?" She can the edge in her own voice and wonders if maybe that was a little too much, but then he's saying, "I… got shot," and Val decides she didn't let enough venom into her voice.

"You got _shot_? Where? What hospital are you at, I'm coming immediately." She waves her card in the air and the waitress catches on quickly. "Why didn't you tell me first thing, you idiot?"

Val can hear the panic beginning to invade his words as he exclaims, "It was just in the leg, don't worry about me. You don't have to come here, it's not even that bad-"

The waitress returns with her card and Valerie is up and out of the restaurant like a shot, wobbling towards her car. "Spencer Reid, you really aren't much of a genius if you think I'm _not_ going to visit you after being shot." She digs around in her purse for a pen and paper, only finding the former. "Now tell me which hospital you're at or I swear to god-"

"Okay, okay!" He rattles off the name of the hospital and she jots down the name in sloppy print on her palm. "It's just that we decided not to tell them-"

"I'm coming whether you like it or not, you were shot-"

" _In the leg_! Anyway, I'll be discharged by tomorrow, it really isn't that big of a deal. If you want I can spend all day with you tomorrow, just… don't come, okay?" He pleads with her and she hears it, the desperation he's feeling. "The longer we keep you a secret, the longer you'll be safe. Please, if you care for me at all, you'll wait and I'll come see you tomorrow."

Val hesitates, chewing harshly on her lip. And then finally she sighs heavily. "Okay. But I still have to let you go, there is no way I'm driving myself home and I have to call Devin to come pick me up."

Spencer lets out a heavy sigh of relief. "Okay, okay. I'll see you tomorrow then."

"And you'll tell me everything, right?"

"Of course."

"Good." And then she presses end and she can't help the smile that breaks across her lips. He cares so much about her safety, enough to keep her from everybody that he cares about. They've only been dating a couple months, but she could see herself falling in love with him easily.

_~o~_

"You are my life saver," Valerie proclaims as her best friend pulls up in her Jeep, nicknamed Felipe the Jeep, blonde hair messy from the wind.

"Well, I mean, obviously." Devin raises an eyebrow up at her as Val swings herself into Felipe. "I've got the 'sober-up-somewhat' special in the back, we can dig in at your house. Now, why exactly are you drunk enough that you can't drive yourself home at-" She glances at the clock- "-7:43 in the evening?"

Val explains rapidly as Devin begins the twenty minute drive to Val's apartment. When she's finished Devin's eyebrows are high on her forehead and she looks like someone has just told her that Cheetos are actually the sole reason for cancer, something she's been saying for years. "You're telling me that he actually convinced you not to go? After being shot? And you're drunk?"

"Yes?"

She lets out a loud whoop, fist pumping the air. "Finally! Someone is able to calm Valerie Janes down when she's on a rampage!"

"Shut up!" Val reaches over and punches Devin's shoulder, then yelps as she swerves. " _Dev_!"

"You punched me!"

"Not hard enough to warrant that reaction!"

"Shut up, I'm weak!"

"You idiot!"

"You twat!"

"Stop using British lingo, you aren't British!"

"I'm British at heart!"

The two continue bickering as Devin pulls into the parking lot and don't stop until Mrs. Mayberry bangs on the shared wall of their apartments twenty minutes later, yelling, "Valerie Janes, Devin McGuire, if you don't stop screaming at each other I'm going to call the police!" They both break into giggles at that, because every time Mrs. Mayberry threatens that, she never goes through with it. Instead Val will usually find a tray of chocolate chip cookies on her front doorstep the next morning, her way of apologizing.

Mrs. Mayberry really is something.

The two girls begin their sober-up routine, which includes splitting a twenty piece chicken nugget("You better give me my ten!" "Why do you still doubt my honor, Devvy?" "Where was all that honor back in tenth grade when you ate one of my chicken nuggets?" "That was _tenth grade_!"), two large fries, and a pint of mint ice cream for them to share. They start _Dirty Dancing_ (it's Devin's turn to choose and it's her all time favorite movie and Val wants to kill herself every time Dev turns it on, but she wants the ice cream, so she stays) and they settle into their usual sitting arrangement-Val's head in Devin's lap, each of them with a separate blanket and in pajamas. Devin stopped having to bring pajamas a long time ago.

Halfway through the movie she glances up, sees her best friend fast asleep with her spoon halfway in her mouth, obviously about to fall, she quickly pulls it out before it has a chance to fall on her. And within minutes she's turned off the movie, pulled her hair out of its bun, and fallen asleep in her best friend's lap.

_~o~_

Spencer didn't know what to expect when he showed up at Valerie's apartment. He had ideas, of course. Since it was was nine in the morning, she'd probably be fast asleep, given she never got up before ten if she could help it. He hoped that she'd stay asleep and he could just join her in bed, and then surprise her when she woke up. And so, he, of course, stretched and moved one of the ceiling tiles with his one of his crutches, just enough that her spare key fell into his hand, and let himself inside.

And now, less than forty seconds later, he's screaming for mercy on the floor, his leg in burning pain, being beat with an umbrella by blonde who's yelling, " _Get out of here before I chop off your dick and feed it to you on hotdog bun, you dirty twat_!"

"Son of a _bitch_ \- get off me- get _off_ \- _I'm FBI_!"

"As if I believe you!"

" _Devin_!"

The girl stops and Spencer looks up, forcing back tears from when the girl hit the spot where he was shot dead on. "Val?" Valerie is staring at the two of them from the couch, eyes wide, as if she's trying to process what exactly she's seeing.

"You know this fucker?" The girl questions, pushing the umbrella tip painfully against his ribs.

Val blinks once, twice. And then- "Oh my god, Spence!" In seconds she's flying off the couch, pushing the girl into the wall as she kneels beside him. "Ohmigod, are you okay?" She glares up at the girl and Spencer feels the slightest bit of pleasure at the embarrassed look on the girl's face. "You attacked my boyfriend!"

"I thought he was a robber!"

"You attacked a disabled man!"

Spence recoils, staring at his girlfriend in disbelief. "I'm not disabled, all I did was get shot!"

"Which reminds me!" _I should not have said that._ "You didn't let me come visit you!" Val sits back on her feet, glowering down at him.

He lets out a groan and falls back on the floor. "Go ahead."

Val pauses, smiles sweetly at Devin. "Go make us breakfast." And Devin is out of the living room in seconds, obviously knowing what's good for her. Then she clears her throat and within seconds, she's on a roll.

"Spencer Walter Reid, you got shot! How did you get shot? Why was that not the first thing you told me? Are you okay? Did Devin hurt you? How long are you going to be on crutches? Thank you for wanting to keep me safe, but I should have gone to the hospital, you were shot. Was the rest of the team with you? I'm your girlfriend, I should have been with you! I should have-" She cuts off, taking a quick break from her rapid-fire speaking to take a breath, and Spencer takes advantage of the break.

"I got shot by an UnSub who was trying to shoot someone else, I knew you would react like this and wanted to put it off, I'm okay, Devin did hurt me, I'll be on crutches for at least a month or two, you should not have come to the hospital because I care about you and don't want you to be hurt because of me, and the rest of the team couldn't be with me." He takes his own deep breath, watching as Val processes what she's heard.

And, as he expects, she chooses one thing to focus on. "Why the _hell_ wasn't the rest of the team with you?"

He sighs, props himself up on his elbows. "Hotch was attacked last night and they were with him. He almost died."

She pauses, chews her lip before relenting. "Okay, that makes sense. And yet, that doesn't stop me from being pissed. Was anybody else with you when you were shot?" He cringes and immediately her eyes darken. "Your team wasn't there for you?"

"They were at the school with the target's son, making sure he was okay."

"All of them?"

He sighs, looks away. "Prentiss wasn't, she was with Hotch at the hospital."

"And she was supposed to be?"

"... With me."

Val takes a deep breath, flashes an obviously fake smile. "Alrighty then! I'll just be going to kill a FBI agent, if you don't mind," she announces, beginning to get up.

He's quick to reach over and pull her back down, raising an eyebrow. "Would the said FBI agent be one of my friends?"

"... It's a possibility." He smiles as she pouts, staying quiet, until finally she whispers, "I was really worried. And just to find out that one of your teammates wasn't doing her part?"

Spencer pushes a stray hair behind her ear, runs his thumb against her cheek. "It wasn't Prentiss's fault, sweetie. We needed to find out where our team leader was and she was doing just that. And I know, and I'm sorry. Next time I'll tell you first thing, okay?"

Valerie glowers at him, crossing her arms over her chest. "There better not be a next time, Reid."

"You know I can't promise that."

He sees it, watches the energy leave her as she slumps. "I know, I just… I wish you could."

A grim smile overtakes his lips as he nods. "Me too."

She nods, stares at him for a moment. And then she moves close and presses her lips against his own. He cups her cheek, kisses her back gently. It's pure, chaste, and _oh_ , he could fall in love with girl. The thought terrifies him, but also… doesn't.

"PDA! PDA!" He goes to pull away but then, like a switch has been flipped, Val is kissing him desperately, and when he peeks he sees her raising her middle fingers towards Devin, who's rolling her eyes with a fond smile.

And so he gives her a couple seconds, his cheeks already reddening from Devin's eyes on them, before finally pulling away, smirking deviously. "While that was extremely enjoyable, I think I'd really like to get to know the girl that beat me with an umbrella."

Devin rolls her eyes, shrugging lightly. "Maybe you shouldn't make such a racket next time."

"My crutch caught on the welcome mat, I couldn't control my fall!"

She grins widely, looking smug at his excuse. "Well, that sucks for you then, now doesn't it?"

Spencer shakes his head and glances at his girlfriend. The corners of his lips turn upwards as he observes her sweet smile, her lit up eyes, but he has to stop before he gets too sucked into how beautiful she is when she's happy. "So, are you going to officially introduce me to her?"

Val's smile widens as she gets to her feet, holds a hand out. He takes her hand, pushes himself up, and lets out a quiet hiss of pain shrugs off her look of concern. "Don't worry, I'm okay."

"Now officially introduce us!" Devin exclaimed, leaning against the doorway to kitchen and tossing her hair over her shoulder dramatically. _Oh, a power play. She's going to be interesting._

Valerie laughs, nods. "Okay, okay. Dev, meet Spencer Reid, my boyfriend. Spence, meet Devin McGuire, my best friend since grade school and the only person you will ever have to compete with for my love."

He puts an arm around her, leaning on her- partly to keep the weight off of his injured leg, and partly to be closer to her- and smirks at Devin. "That's one competition I'm willing to compete in."

Devin cocks her head, studies him for a moment. And then she nods, an eyebrow raised and her lips pulled into a smirk. "Good."


	5. Welcome to Fatherhood, Babe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Requested by an anon on tumblr: First, I wanted to tell you that I'm a huge fan of your writing. Second, I was wondering if you also take requests for I Love You? Because if so, I was hoping you could use prompt 13- "Welcome to fatherhood." I just really want to see Valerie and Spencer with a baby!
> 
> A/N: Yes, I will take requests for I Love You, but not all. It depends on whether it fits the story itself and my image of Val and Spencer's lives together. Feel free to send them in!

**_Takes Place In: Season Eleven_ **

_Dear Mr. and Mrs. Reid,_

_Hello. My name is Mateo Nathan Harendez. Reid sounds cooler than Harendez though. Mateo Nathan Reid. I think I like that more._

_You seem nice from your letter. Being an FBI agent seems interesting, Mr. Reid. Do you get to shoot people? One of the other kids here was shot once, she has a scar on her shoulder from it. She said her dad did it but it was an accident._

_Mrs. Reid, what's it like being married to an FBI agent? It must be very difficult if he's gone all the time. Also, what's your favorite book? Mine is the Percy Jackson series, Percy is someone I'd like to be like one day and Grover is hilarious. Annabeth is my favorite character though, she almost always knows what to do and is really witty, I love it._

_Are you going to visit me before you go through with the adoption process? Are you even allowed to? I don't know, nobody's ever told me, though it would make more sense for the kid to meet their new parents, you know?_

_I guess that's it for now._

_From,_

_Mateo Nathan Harendez_

Valerie bounces lightly on the balls of her feet, slipping Mateo's letter back into her bag after reading it for the forty-third time since they'd received it three months ago. They've exchanged letters since then, but his first to them will always be her favorite. "Babe, I think I'm going to throw up."

Spencer laughs, uses his free hand to brush a stray hair behind her ear before kissing her burning cheek. "Sweetie, meeting our hopefully-new kid with puke all down your shirt is probably a bad idea."

"Is it hot in here to you?" She questions, fanning herself.

"We're in the Bahamas, Val."

She nudges him roughly, a nervous laugh escaping her lips. "Shut up before-"

"You castrate me, I know. You really should come up with a new threat, you never follow through." Spence smirks, sending a wink her way. Val can't help but laugh before moving forward and pressing her lips to his.

"Mr. and Mrs. Reid- oh!"

They separate rapidly, both of their cheeks reddening as Mr. Howlter raises an eyebrow.

"Sorry, I just-" She gestures helplessly towards her husband, a sheepish smile breaking across her lips. "He's a dork, but he's a cute dork."

Mr. Howlter nods, a mixture of disgust and annoyance gleaming in his eyes. _I know I didn't like him._ "Of course, Mrs. Reid." He glances over his shoulder and Val's stomach tightens in apprehension. "Now, are you ready to meet Mateo?"

She looks up at her husband, feeling her breathing speed up. Their eyes meet and she sees it, the mixture of fear and excitement and most of all, love for the boy they picked to be their own. "Yes."

"Then follow me."

They begin walking and Spencer takes her hand, squeezing tightly as they navigate the halls. Val can't help but look around, seeing little faces staring at the two of them through cracks in the doors. "Can we just take them all?" She whispers, giving her husband her best puppy eyes.

He laughs but she can see the pain in those dark eyes that shows exactly how much he'd like to do just that. "Sorry babe, not on our bankroll."

She sighs quietly. "Lame."

"Very."

Mr. Howlter stops in front of a doorway, the door wide. "He's through here."

Val can hear laughter, one loud and ringing, the other a quiet chuckle. Her grip tightens on Spencer's and she can't help but move closer to him, stomach twisting with an odd mixture of excitement and nerves. This moment, the moment they meet their hopefully new son, will change their lives forever. And once they step through that door, there's no turning back.

A calloused hand touches her cheek and she turns to her husband, heart beating faster than it has in years. "We've got this," he says quietly, staring into her eyes with nothing but love.

"We've got this," she repeats, leaning close and pressing her lips to his for a moment. "We've got this," Val whispers against his lips and she can feel him smile against her own. Pulling away from him, she takes a deep breath squares her shoulders, and nods.

And together, they step through the door.

Two boys recline on matching single beds, one reading a comic and the other hanging upside-down off the side of the bed, fingers tapping against the wooden floor at a rapid pace. Val immediately recognizes the boy hanging upside from the pictures she and Spencer haven't stopped studying over the last couple of months. "Mateo?"

He turns his head and lets out a sharp gasp, sitting up rapidly and almost immediately flopping back down. "Sorry, sorry, I just- dizzy."

Val can't help the giggle that escapes her mouth as she remembers saying the exact same thing the day she and Spencer met. "Don't worry, I definitely get being light-headed. At least you didn't almost run into a cash register."

Mateo's lips pull into a wide grin as the second boy does the complete opposite. "I'm sorry, who're you?"

"Ramirez, that's Spencer and Valerie Reid. The couple that wants to adopt me, remember?" He pulls himself up and swings so that he's sitting Indian style on the covers and Val can't help but move closer, forcing back tears at the sight of the boy she and Spencer want to add to their family. "We like them."

Ramirez lets out a soft grunt of annoyance. "You may like them, but they're taking you away from me so I don't like them."

Mr. Howlter takes a step forward, grabs the boy's arm roughly. "Ramirez, that's enough. Go to the play room and let Mateo and the Reid's get acquainted."

Spencer shakes his head, smiles crookedly at the other boy. "Don't worry, Mr. Howlter, he can stay here if he'd like. We'd like to meet everyone who's close to Mateo."

Val can't help but choke back a laugh, glancing from Mateo, whose face is reddening with how hard he's trying not to laugh, back to Mr. Howlter, whose lips have pursed like he just drank a gallon of lemon juice. "Okay," he says, his voice tight with displeasure. "I guess I'll leave you to get to know Mateo and Ramirez better." The orphanage "father" steps out and it takes approximately 2.2 seconds for Valerie to burst into laughter, covering her mouth to smother her giggles in case he's still out there. Mateo follows not far behind and even Ramirez cracks a smile.

"We call that "The Face of Death" since most of the time he threatens to kill someone after he does that. He never follows through with it but we usually get assigned more chores, so sometimes death is preferable," Mateo explains as he scoots closer to the head of the bed, patting the covers. Val sits, Spencer following, and without thinking she leans into her husband, allowing him to wrap his arms around her.

"How often do you see "The Face of Death"?" Spencer questions and she swears she can hear the smile in his voice.

Mateo winces, glancing from a laughing Ramirez to the two of them. "More than we probably should?"

Val looks up at Spencer, a smirk plastered across her lips. "You better be committed to adopting him considering how alike we are already."

"Well I married you, didn't I? I think I can deal with a kid like you."

"Spence, you twit!"

Val looks away from Spencer just in time to see Mateo send Ramirez a knowing look, Ramirez just rolling his eyes in return. "So, Ramirez," Said boy jumps at the sound of her saying his name. "When did you meet Mateo?"

He glances from Val to Mateo and then back again, eyebrows furrowed. "Why do you want to know?"

She raises an eyebrow, cocks her head. "You're Mateo's best friend, right?"

"Yes, I am." Ramirez raises his chin- _an obvious power move_ , she thinks, inwardly smiling at how much her husband has rubbed off on her- and says, "We've been friends for ten years."

"Impressive," Spencer comments, glancing between the two boys. "I didn't have any relationships like that when I was younger, it's nice to know Mateo has a friend he can count on."

Val can't help but giggle. "Way to paint your younger self in a good light, Spence, though I do agree with him. On both accounts," she adds teasingly, earning an exasperated sigh. She opens her mouth to tease him more, and then- "Spencer, Valerie, I want you to adopt me."

She blinks, feels Spencer's quick breath against her back, hears a whispered, "What?" from the other bed. But as much as she wants to make the other boy feel better, she can't concentrate on him right now because _Mateo wants them to adopt him._

Val doesn't hesitate to shrug out of her husband's arms and fling herself towards her soon-to-be son, hugging him eagerly. "Oh thank god, I was worried we might have to kidnap you instead."

Spencer's arms wrap around the two of them and she can't help the tears that leak out of her eyes as Mateo grips them just as tightly as she's holding him. "You really want this, Mateo? You're sure?" Spencer questions. Val pulls back slightly so she can look the boy in his eyes, chewing on her lower lip nervously.

He doesn't even hesitate. "Definitely. I was sure before you came down here, I just wanted to meet you before."

Valerie glances back at her husband, exchanges grins with him before looking back at Mateo. "Good. We'll work on the paperwork for officially adopting you as soon as we can and hopefully you'll be with us within the next couple of months."

Then she hears a sharp intake of breath and her heart plummets as she turns to look at Ramirez, who's looking at Mateo with wounded eyes that makes her want to hug him and never let go. "Mateo?" His voice is small and broken and she flinches as her future son stares at the covers, avoiding his best friend's eyes.

"I'm sorry." He sounds both defensive and heartbroken and _damn it_ , she just wants to make his pain go away. "I just-" He looks at Val and Spencer pleadingly and they get the very obvious message. She gently runs a hand through his hair and whispers, "Good luck, kid," before taking her husband's hand and slipping out of the room, leaving the two boys to talk.

She follows Spencer down the hallway, stopping a couple doors away and leaning against the wall. Neither of them speaks, just go back and forth between staring at the door and glancing at each other, waves of concern radiating off of the two. _Is Mateo going to be okay? Will Ramirez convince him to change his mind? What if they get into a blow-up fight that ruins their friendship? I don't hear yelling, they obviously haven't hit that point yet. What if Mateo still comes with us but he's bitter over leaving Ramirez and hates us for the rest of our lives? What if he-?_

Spencer lets out a dry chuckle, shaking his head. Val turns to him sharply, raises an eyebrow. "What do you have to be laughing at?"

"We haven't even adopted him yet and we're already dealing with teenage angst."

Val can't help but giggle, standing on her tiptoes to throw an arm around his shoulder. "Welcome to fatherhood, babe. It'll be quite the adventure, but we've got this, yeah?"

The corner of his lip twitches upwards and she takes her chance, swinging in front of him and pressing her lips to his in a chaste kiss. "Yeah," Spencer breathes as they pull apart, "we've got this."


	6. Getting Closer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Val learns a little more about her boyfriend when he decides to go visit some people he's put away.

_**Takes Place In: Early Season Five  
** _

A stupid romantic comedy, popcorn, and cuddles. All Valerie needed for a good day.

Or at least, until Spencer said, "So, I think I'm going to have to cancel on our weekend together."

Her head swivels from the TV to his face as she pulls away from him and glowers. "We've been planning this for over a month now and you want to cancel?" She'd planned out this weekend to the minute, which she almost never did, but she wanted to make their weekend together count.

Friday: A play Spence had somehow managed to get tickets for a play she'd been dying to see.

Saturday: A picnic in the park, followed by a walk around the International Spy Museum, Mexican back at her place, and ending with sex, if she played her cards right.

Sunday: Force him to attend church with her(completely disregarding the probable wild and kinky sex they had the night before) before ending their weekend by eating lunch together at the shop so she could open it right after.

So yes, the fact that he is cancelling on her the day before their weekend together is completely and totally pissing her off.

Spencer shifts in his seat, smiles awkwardly. "I'm sorry sweetie, it's just that there are some friends of mine I haven't seen in awhile and our schedules have finally lined up. I don't want to cancel on you but it's been so long since I've seen them."

"You're not only going to give up our weekend together, but you're going to give up half of your last week of Devin being your slave so you can visit some friends?" Val questions, quirking an eyebrow towards her boyfriend. After Devin and Spencer's quite violent meeting, they'd discovered that Devin hitting him over and over with an umbrella had done nothing good for his leg, actually making his injuries worse. So Valerie had forced her best friend to be Spencer's servant anytime she came around, given she was the one who turned two months into six.

Spence shrugs smoothly, but she can't help but notice the way he's refusing to meet her eyes, focusing solely on the television. "I have to go this weekend, I don't know the next time I'll be able to get there with my schedule."

She cocks her head and stares at him until finally he looks over, raises his eyebrows. "What?" Ah. Just as she expected. Higher-pitched than usual.

"You're lying," she decides, crossing her arms and pushing away from him completely, leaning against the edge of the couch. "Where are you going and why?"

Spencer hesitates, avoiding her eyes as Val stares at him expectantly. "Look, it's fine if you want to skip our weekend together, but only as long as you have a valid reason. And promise to make it up to me later, of course." He glances up just in time for her to send a wink his way, earning that crooked smile she finds so adorable. "Now, what is it? Does it have something to do with work?"

He shakes his head resolutely. "No, no, it's not work related. Well, I guess it is, actually. Sort of. Not really?

Val touches her temple gently, a noticed sign that she's getting annoyed. "Get on with it, babe."

"I'm going to meet with two mentally ill people that I met while working different cases."

That stops her in her tracks. "What?" That is not even close to what she was expecting.

He still doesn't look at her as his tongue darts out to wet his lips. "I haven't told you about either of these cases because they affected me a lot more than they should have. I… I relate to one of them and then… the other reminds me a lot of Tobias Hankle."

Almost instantly goosebumps rise on her arms as any annoyance she'd been feeling disappears, only to be replaced with concern for Spencer. When she'd heard the story of the man with multiple personalities, the man who'd gotten her boyfriend addicted to Dilaudid, the man who even now, still gave him nightmares, Val had wanted to rip the man to shreds. So why was Spencer wanting to visit someone who reminds him of Hankle?

She's quiet for a moment, just studying her boyfriend. He's tensed up, holding his cane like it's the only thing keeping him alive. So Val slides closer, acknowledges his look of confusion as she nods. "Okay. You don't have to tell me anymore if you don't want to, but know that you can, yeah?"

He hesitates and she can see the wheels turning in his head, that big brain of his trying to decide whether to let her in. And so she takes his hand, lays her head on his shoulder, and stares at the ground. She wants to pull out her phone, make it seem like she isn't pressuring him(which really, she isn't trying to, but _god_ , she's so curious too), but she knows that he would see right through it. So instead Val just waits and hopes.

And finally, at least ten minutes later, he begins to talk.

"The first is a boy named Nathan Harris. He approached me as I got off the subway, asked me… unusual questions. We found out later that prostitutes were being killed, and I wondered if maybe it was him, if I'd let the unsub get away on accident. We discovered that it wasn't him, but he was getting off of the idea of murdering prostitutes."

Val's stomach heaves at the idea and she can't help but grip his hand a little tighter, move a little closer. Spencer rarely goes into details with her, so this is something she's definitely not prepared for. "He- he was scared of what he might do, that's why he talked to me at the subway station. We convinced his mother that he needed to be institutionalized. The night before he was meant to be sent away, I was out with Garcia. I- I got a call. It was a prostitute. He'd slit his wrists, left my number on the table for her to call."

She releases a choked gasp, can't help but whisper, "Was… was he okay?"

Spencer nods jerkily, his blinking rapid. "If I'd been any later…. Yeah, he survived." He laughs bitterly and runs a hand through his hair. "I don't even know why I cared so much."

"Spence…"

"But I guess I do, you know? I have to because **I know what it's like to be afraid of your own mind**."

Val sucks in a breath, pulls herself even closer to him, which she didn't realize was possible before now. She doesn't say anything, feels him shaking against her arm and slips her hand into his, gripping it tightly. She squeezes gently three times. _I love you._

Spencer swallows, takes a breath before continuing. "The second was a man named Adam Jackson. He was our unsub, but he had a disassociative personality disorder, his alter ego being a woman named Amanda." Val can't help but quirk an eyebrow at that, it actually seems fairly interesting. Must be hell for him- her? She'll have to figure that out later- but psychologists must have a field day with them.

The idea of them being used as guinea pigs makes her more upset than she'd care to admit.

Spencer sighs, leans his cheek against her hair. "I should have known, Val. After dealing with Hankle… I should have known. I saw all the signs, but I was too late. In the end, Amanda took over. I've been visiting whenever I can for the past two years now. I've been trying to get her to release Adam."

Valerie doesn't move, doesn't breathe, for a couple seconds, her mind roaring with all of this new information. And the thought that stands out to her the most is _Why does he care so much?_ followed by _Oh my god he's actually perfect._

She pulls away from him, sits criss-cross and grabs his chin, forces him to look at her. "Spencer Walter Reid," she says slowly, staring him dead in those hurting eyes, "You are the most amazing person I've ever met."

Her boyfriend looks up at her, shakes his head slowly. "Valerie, I could have done something to stop both of these. I could have saved Adam, could have tried harder with Nathan-"

Val cuts him off easily. "You tried as hard as you could with both of them."

"You weren't even there," he mumbles, refusing to meet her eyes, staring instead at his fidgeting hands.

She stares at him for a moment, trying to figure how the hell she could have missed all this pain inside of him. Without a second thought she slips her hands into his, calming his fidgeting by rubbing her thumbs against his skin. "I know _you_ , Spence. I mean, you're still hurting because you think you didn't do enough. You show up at my house at three AM just to be near me after hard cases. Babe, you have the biggest heart of anyone I've ever known, there's no way you wouldn't try as hard as you could to save them. That's why-" She hesitates, choking on the words _I love you._

Valerie Janes doesn't say _I love you_ without knowing for certain, and at this point in time, she doesn't. So she smiles sadly and cups his cheek, makes sure he's looking at her before quietly saying, "That's why you're my favorite human alive, obviously."

The corner of lips twitch upwards as he nods, cocks his head. "You know I love you, right?"

She smirks and leans forward, kissing his cheek before pulling back. "I know." Val unfolds her legs and stands up, placing her hands on her hips. "I'm going to go make my famous comfort mac-n-cheese and leave you to finish the movie and then after we finish, I'll help you pack, yeah?"

Val tries to forget the unsatisfied look that graces his eyes as he nods, smiles. "Yeah, okay. Thanks, sweetie."

"You're welcome." _I think I might love you_. "Enjoy Sleepless In Seattle!"

 


	7. What Can I Do?- Pt. One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Val gets some bad news about Spencer that leaves her wondering if things can ever be the same.

_**Takes Place In: Season 12, Episode Thirteen** _

"Jude, Finn! What's taking you guys so long? We need to leave within the next ten minutes if you want to get to class on time," Valerie shouts down the hallway as she does the morning breakfast rush dishes. As per usual, Jude had spilled his orange juice all over his shirt and Finn had almost thrown up because she'd just started her period and the mere smell of food in the morning made her sick. And then there was Mateo, who was still eating his breakfast. How he managed to take so long eating, she would never understand, but as long as he was done in the next couple of minutes Val would still be able to get them out the door on time.

"Ve're vorkink on it! I can't- _verdammt_ \- I can't get the orange juice out!" Jude shouted, waving the dripping shirt wildly in the hallway before pulling it back into the bathroom.

Valerie can't help but roll her eyes at her son's theatrics, Jude's thick German accent making it difficult for her to understand him. Five years living in the U.S. and he still couldn't be understood. Of course, it's fairly difficult to understand him even when he's not being overdramatic, but it's worse when Jude's mad or sad or over-excited… well, any strong emotion. Thank god Finn is working on adopting an English accent, just enough for her classmates to be able to understand her. Jude, though? He'll be fifty before he gets even close to losing his.

"Did you try the-?"

"Yes!"

"And-?"

"Yes! I have tried everythink!"

She sighs, scrubs the pan harder than she probably needs to. "Just throw it over the side of the tub, I'll clean it up after I close the shop tonight. Finn, are you doing okay?"

There's a questionable moan from her room and Mateo and Val exchange worried glances before she nods towards the hallway. "Check on Finn, please?"

The teen gestures to the Lucky Charms still in his bowl. "I'm eating!" She raises an eyebrow, cocks her head in the way she's mastered since adopting Jude and Finn, trying to send as much danger towards him as possible. He groans, dropping his spoon into the bowl as he gets to his feet, muttering under his breath, " _Je voulais juste manger mon putain céréales*_ ," venomously.

"No speaking in languages I haven't learned when Spencer isn't around," Val tosses over her shoulder, smirking when she hears a loud, "'esus, Val!" Ever since Mateo had started learning French at school he'd enjoyed speaking the language around her as much as possible, knowing that she couldn't translate what he'd said to her. The only languages Valerie know are Spanish and English, though she's been working on German ever since Spencer and herself had adopted Finn and Jude.

She finishes the dishes right as Jude enters the kitchen wearing a fresh t-shirt and his long curls pulled back in a ponytail, braces gleaming as he smiles at her. "How you doink, Mama?"

A tired smile bullies its way onto her lips as she shrugs, blows a stray hair out of her face. "I'm good. Spencer should be home tomorrow, so that's nice." He looks at her for a moment in that way that drives her insane, like those bright blue eyes are trying to see clear into her soul. Clearing her throat, she says, "Why don't you go check on Diana and Cassie and see how they're doing while I get Finn and Mateo, yeah?"

One heartbeat.

Two.

"Okay, Mama," he finally replies, nodding slowly before turning away from her and heading towards Diana's room. "Dad vill come home safe. He alvays does," Jude says, sending a reassuring smile over his shoulder as he turns the corner.

Val's smile drops as soon as he's out of sight and she leans against the counter, head flopping back so that she's staring at the ceiling. "Yeah, but he's not usually getting medicine from across the border."

 _God_ , please let her husband get home safely.

_~o~_

"I'll see you at the store after school, right? You don't have cheerleading today?" Val double checks as Finn tumbles out of the backseat, long blonde hair almost getting stuck in the door as she slams in.

"Yeah, I'll be at zee schtore- _store_. Gotta go, love you!" She blows a kiss towards Valerie before turning and running rapidly up the steps of the junior high, just barely managing to avoid face planting.

Honestly, she knew that Finn was going to be a klutz from the first time she saw her at nine years old.

Valerie is almost halfway to the store when her phone starts ringing. She ignores it the first two times because she's driving and Spencer has lectured her _way_ too many times for her to answer the phone, but when it goes off the third time she pulls over. Cursing loudly she glances at the screen, which is lit up with a picture of JJ. "Hello darling, why have you called me so many times in the last two minutes?"

The line is quiet and Val could swear her heart stops as, for the first time, it occurs to her that this might have something to do with her husband. "JJ? Is Spencer okay?"

" _Valerie, I…_ "

Her breathing picks up as she grips the steering wheel until her knuckles turn white, her heartbeat echoing in her ears. "JJ! Is Spencer okay?" Her voice rises, borderline hysterical at the end as the world falls apart around her.

" _Valerie, Spencer's been arrested for drug possession with intent to distribute._ "

Instantly her terror morphs into confusion, followed by flat-out denial. "No, he couldn't have. Not after… not after Hankle. He never would have- Look, Spencer would never-"

JJ interrupts her, saying, " _We know he would never do this, Val. We're already working on the case-_ "

"I'm coming to Quantico," Valerie announces before ending the call before JJ can get a chance to try to talk her out of it. Instantly she's typing in Cassie's number. "Cassie?"

" _Valerie, hi! You just left an hour ago, why are you calling?_ "

She clears her throat, runs her hand through her hair in frustration. "It's nothing, there's been some… issues with Spencer. I'm not exactly sure what's going on, but I was hoping you might be up to staying with Diana overnight? Jude can keep an eye on Finn and Mateo so you don't have to worry about them, just Diana."

" _Yes, of course. What's wrong? Is Dr. Reid okay?_ "

"Unclear at this precise moment. All I know is that something big has happened and I'm staying at Quantico until Spencer gets back." Val sighs, gently massaging her temple as she puts her head against the steering wheel. "Thank you so much, Cassie, this'll be a big help."

" _Of course, Mrs. Reid. Call me when you have any news?_ "

"Yeah, yeah, sure. I have to go, I need to call the school next."

" _Okay. You be safe now, you hear? And tell that husband of yours to be safe when you see him._ "

The corner of her lips twitch upwards at the older lady's words. "Will do, Cassie. See you tomorrow."

" _See you then._ "

Val hangs up and just stares at her knees for a moment. Blinks a couple times. Releases a couple of swears under her breath before sitting up and bringing the high school's number to her screen as she eases back onto the road.

At this point, she can't waste any more time.

_~o~_

"Anderson!" Valerie barks as she enters the room, raising an eyebrow at the rapidly paling man. She could swear the volume level drops almost completely at her appearance.

"They're in the briefing room-"

She smiles as she spins around, tosses a, "Thank you," over her shoulder and completely ignores his stammering response as she strides into the briefing room. "Alright, what the he-" All the breath leaves her body as her eyes lock on the screen where a large picture takes up half the screen. Faintly, she hears Penelope squeal something and Stephen's low, soothing tones as someone touches her arm, but she can't look away from the screen where her husband's mugshot is.

Dark circles under his eyes, day-old stubble, pale skin. Dull eyes that make her want to fall apart right here, right now.

So she does.

"This- this is a joke, right?" Val stutters, hysterical giggles escaping her lips. "This- this has to be a prank-"

Penelope leaps to her feet, tears brimming in her eyes as she takes the younger woman's hands. "I'm so, so sorry-"

Valerie tears her hands from her friend's in favor of covering her face, high-pitched laughter echoing throughout the room. "Spence would never- he'd never been seen like that," she chokes out between giggles. "Never in- a million years."

Tara steps in front of her, wraps her arms around her comfortingly. Within seconds Val's out of control laughter turns into a small sob as she sinks into the older woman's embrace, allows JJ to rub her back comfortingly. "It's okay, Val, just let it out," Penelope whispers and Valerie allows herself to do just that for the next two minutes before pulling herself together and wiping away the tears from her cheeks. She closes her eyes, takes a deep breath, then opens them and says, "What do we know?"

Because she may not be a profiler, but damned if Valerie Reid won't do everything she can to bring Spencer home.

~o~

 _Je voulais juste manger mon putain de céréales*-_ I just wanted to eat my fucking cereal


	8. What Can I Do?- Pt. Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Valerie talks to Spencer about what'll happen when he gets home before calling Devin for a favor.

Valerie sits, curled up in a ball at Spencer's desk. When she sat down, she can't quite remember. Not after hearing the news. She runs her fingers over the spine of the books he keeps on his desk. Smiles at the pictures spread out, ranging from a picture of herself kissing his cheek on their first date to the kids at the park, Finn hanging upside-down from the monkey bars with Jude and Mateo posing goofily.

" _Spencer's being arrested for the murder of Nadie Ramos."_

Val isn't quite sure how long she sits there, studying the layout and feeling an overwhelming amount of love for her husband, her husband who's being framed for a murder he didn't commit, who's going to a maximum security prison in Mexico. _God, he doesn't deserve this._

Val startles when she feels a soft hand brush her shoulder. "We're going to get him out, Valerie."

Nodding, she sighs and spins in the chair so she's looking up at JJ. "Yeah, I know. Of course. I mean, Spencer never would have murdered somebody. They're going to realize there are holes in their case and then he's going to come home and everything will be right in the world again. Obviously, right?" Val looks up at one of her best friends, silently begging JJ to agree with her.

JJ smiles but it doesn't meet her eyes as she nods. "We're working as hard as we can to get him out. And the BAU really is one of the best, so…"

Val giggles as she gets to her feet, ignoring the bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. "I've got faith in us. Or at least you guys, this whole profiling thing isn't exactly my forte." JJ laughs and she can't help but smile while pulling her phone out of her pocket. "Anyway, I'm going to make everyone coffee, you want one?"

" _Definitely_ ," JJ breathes, gratitude obvious. "And while you do that, I'll get back to others."

"Okay, I'll see you in a few, yeah?"

"Yeah, sure." And she's walking away and Val has to force herself not to turn back to the desk, keep reminiscing and falling deeper and deeper into the lull of sadness.

Somehow she finds herself making the coffee for the other team members, just how they like it. The fact that she can remember everyone's coffee preference has been a source of pride for her ever since the first time the team went out for coffee. Learning the new members drinks orders as they came and went was always difficult though, seeing as she would usually figure out what their drink preference was after bringing to coffee to everyone else.

Honestly, she should be a barista with how often she brings them coffee.

Val begins the process of trying to hold all of them at once(no way in hell is she going to make two trips- _two trips are for the weak_ ), tucking Tara and Stephen's in the crooks of her arms while holding onto Garcia's and JJ's, her own precariously smushed against her side by her arm. "Oh dear lord god above, _please_ don't let me spill this," she mutters as she slowly walks towards the briefing room, ignoring the offers of help and laughter.

"Coff-" Her voice gives out on her as she hears Tara ask, "How are we going to tell her?"

"I don't know, how do you tell a friend that she'll only be able to talk to her husband a few minutes before he has to go to jail? Oh, poor Valerie, poor Spencer, poor everybody because our genius does not deserve this!" Garcia rants and Val just barely avoids dropping the coffee before she storms into the room, eyes blazing.

"Excuse me?"

Everyone turns as she sets the mugs on the table before straightening, arms crossed over her chest. "They're giving me how long to talk to Spencer before they take him to jail? Where are they taking him? Is there anyway I can talk to him before he gets here? Can-"

"Valerie, slow down, just for a moment," Stephen interrupts, gently putting a hand on her arm and looking up at her with grim features. With anybody else she would've shaken them off and kept rambling, but Stephen's smooth baritone has had a way of calming her since they'd met earlier that year. And she didn't know him well enough to bowl him over with her words.

"Okay, okay, I'm slowed down. Now somebody tell me what's going on before I spray somebody with hot coffee."

Tara blinks at the threat, looks at JJ bewilderedly and Val has a moment of regret because she may be friends with her but she'd never outright threatened someone in front of her. Well, besides that moment of road rage, but that one was understandable. "Sorry, sorry, I just… could someone just tell me what's going on, _please_?"

Penelope frowns, brows furrowed as she says, "We don't know much yet. All we know is that they're allowing us to bring Reid by Quantico for a short amount of time and you'll be able to talk to him when he gets here. Anything you need to ask him you can pass onto Prentiss though."

"They should be here within the next couple hours though," JJ adds, smiling just the slightest.

Val takes a deep breath, her mind spinning with unanswered questions. Most likely none of them would be answered anytime soon except one, so she pulls out her phone and types in Emily's number from memory. "I'll be right back."

She ignores the sympathetic looks she garners as she steps into the hallway, looking out over the bullpen as she waits. Within seconds she hears Emily's voice. " _Hey there, Val._ "

"Could you let me talk to Spencer?" She puts all of her fear into her voice, practically begging the Unit Chief.

" _Val, you know-_ "

" _Please_ , Emily. Just for a minute. I'll be quick, I need to ask him a question."

The line is quiet for a moment before finally, " _Two minutes._ "

Her heart floods with relief as she sags against the wall, eyes closing. "Thank you, Em. You're my favorite!"

" _Devin would riot if she heard you say that,_ " Emily chuckles lowly. Val can almost imagine her shaking her head, trying to fight a smile back. She seems to have that effect on people.

"Good thing Devin isn't here, hmm?"

Emily "mhms", then the line goes silent except for a couple rustles. And then- " _Val?_ "

"Spence," she breathes, her heart pounding like she's just run a mile. "Are you okay?"

" _Yeah, I- I'm fine. We should be landing in a couple hours, so-_ "

"Spencer Reid, are. You. Okay?" Her voice lowers, dangerous venom coating her words like a second skin. He swallows nervously and she can't help but roll her eyes. _Why does he even bother?_

" _Val-_ "

Valerie takes a breath, begins to speak with a shaky voice. "Please don't lie to me. I need to know the truth."

Spencer's quiet and she can't help but squeeze her eyes shut, feeling the tears begin to prick at her eyelids. " _I'm scared, Val._ "

His voice breaks and she nods, a small sob escaping her lips as she turns away from the agents watching "but totally not watching" her conversation. "I know, babe. I know."

Her husband releases a shaky breath and she can't help but cover her mouth, trying to smother the hiccuped cries just waiting to be released. " _I- I don't know what to do._ "

"Same, honestly. Never actually been in this situation before."

Spencer chuckles quietly, no amusement in his laugh. " _I relate._ " There's a faint background voice and he sighs, muttering, " _Sweetie, I have to go._ "

"Wait, wait, I just- you'll be here in a couple hours, right?"

" _Right._ "

"Do- do you want to see the kids?"

The line is quiet and Valerie can't help but grip the hem of her tee tightly, tingles of nerves dancing across her skin. And then, finally, he whispers, " _Yes. Who knows when I'll be able to see them next._ " Bitterness envelopes his words and she can almost envision his pursed lips and darkened eyes. She hates the sight with a passion.

"Okay. I'll make sure they get here in time. Devin's watching them so, given the insane amount of speeding she does, they'll definitely get here before you." She tries to keep her voice light and airy but fails quite miserably.

" _Good… good. I love you, Valerie._ "

"I love you too, Spence." The line clicks and there's a quiet hum in her ear. Before she can give herself a chance to completely fall apart she's pressing Devin's speed dial and hears her best friend's voice. "Hey, Devin."

" _Hey, Valley! How's everything going, are you okay? Is Spencer okay? Is everyone okay? Who am I taking down for being an idiot and arresting the dork who wouldn't hurt anyone unless forced? I'll fight everyone on the force, just tell me where and when!_ "

Ah, yes, this is why she loves Devin McGuire with a passion.

"Everybody's okay, but I do need you to do me a favor. And no, it's not beating up an entire police force, though I have no doubt that you could do it."

" _Damn it. I was looking forward to working out some of my pent-up anger issues. So, what is it?_ "

"Have the kids at Quantico in three hours?"

" _Easy. Guys! Get ready to go to Quantico!_ " There's a vague yell back and then Devin shouts, Val cringing away, " _I don't care about school, get ready!_ "

"I'll call the school after I get off the phone with you."

" _Which reminds me, why're we coming to Quantico?_ "

Val can't help but smile, just the slightest, at her best friend's 'better late than never question' before. Then a frown overtakes her lips because _jesus christ_ , this is all just _shit_. "They're letting us see him before… they take him to jail."

" _Oh, I'm going to whoop their asses! I'll make them regret ever being born, I'll tear them apart-_ "

"Dev, calm down. You sound like a maniac."

" _Don't I usually?_ " True, true.

"Just get the here on time, please?"

" _Is that a joke?_ "

Val sighs, rolling her eyes exasperatedly. "I love you, Dev. Don't kill the kids."

" _Love you too, Valley!_ "

Val ends the call and takes a deep breath, eyes closed. _How am I supposed to tell the kids?_


	9. What Can I Do?- Pt. Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Valerie tells the kids what's going on before going to see her husband.

"Mama!" Finn shouts as she escapes the elevator, sprinting across the room and into her mother's arms, her brothers following behind her much more slowly. The teen has always a thing against tight spaces, though she still hasn't told Valerie or Spencer why. Their best guess is that has something to do with the sibling's earlier foster homes.

"Hey Liebling, hey other Liebling, how're you doing?"

"Excuse you, where's my hello?" Devin questions, pouting from her spot in front of Val, arm wrapped around Jude's shoulders.

Val flips her the bird before glancing around the room, nervously gnawing on her lip. "Come on, who wants to hang out in the briefing room for a bit?"

"Definitely!" Mateo shouts, bouncing around excitedly, curls flopping into his face. The kid has had a thing for Quantico since the first time Valerie and Spencer had brought him there to see where his new dad worked. There was a running bet going around with the team about when Mateo would tell his parents he wanted to work with the FBI when he got older. Val had seventy down on a month from now.

Mateo and Finn begin jogging towards the briefing room with Devin chasing after them, but Jude holds out his arm before Val can follow. "Mama, iz Dad okay?"

She hesitates, taking a deep breath to keep herself from crying. "I'll tell you what's going on in the briefing room, okay?"

"Mama-"

"Not out here, Jude." She takes his hand and gives him a meaningful look, eyes darting from the agents around them back to Jude himself.

He nods slowly, squeezes her hand before releasing it. "Okay." The teen begins walking and she follows behind, ignoring the pitying looks from the other agents.

When they enter the room everything from the case has been hidden away from wandering eyes, agents distracting the kids from asking more questions. Penelope and Tara have already started asking Finn about whether her medicine has been helping her cramps while Stephen and JJ discuss Mateo's new soccer career, JJ offering to give him lessons anytime he wants. And it really didn't take long for Devin to start drinking Penelope's coffee like her life depended on it.

All eyes turn to Valerie as she closes the door, glancing at the kids with concern. "Kids, I've got some news."

Mateo and Finn exchange worried looks while Jude collapses in one of the chairs, eyes closed as if he's praying. Probably is, honestly. "Is that why you pulled us out of school today?" Mateo asks slowly.

"Yeah, it is."

Finn scans the room as if realizing for the first time that not everyone is here. "Vere are Aunt Em, Uncle Rossi, and Luke?"

JJ chews her lip, glancing at Valerie and raising an eyebrow. _Should we leave?_ She nods and the rest of the team gets the memo, slipping out of the room. Devin follows.

And then Val's alone with her kids, who are about to be extraordinarily pissed off.

"They're… in Mexico. With Dad."

Jude cocks his head, eyebrows furrowing. "But zee BAU doesn't take cases outside of zee US, right?"

She sighs, runs a hand through her hair in frustration. "Your dad… he wasn't on a case. You know how Grandma has been getting worse and that's why she's been living with us?"

"Yeah?"

"He found a drug that would help her get better. Not illegal or anything, but not particularly approved by FDA. So he had to make runs down to Mexico to get it. He wasn't on a case this past week, he was getting Grandma's medicine."

Mateo's frozen in place, just staring at her while Finn has started gripping Jude's hand tightly as if she knows it's about to get so much worse. Jude just looks ready to punch something. "You kept something zat big from us?"

Val gnaws on her lip while shaking her head. "Kid, you can be as pissed with us as you want later, just not now because… storytime isn't over." Jude's eyes narrow while Finn's eyes widen, obviously on the edge of a panic attack. And while normally Val would do everything she could to keep her daughter from losing it, this is one situation she can't avoid, so she dives right in. "Long story short, the woman he was getting the medicine from was murdered and they think your father did it."

In an instant, it feels like all of the air in the room has been sucked away as Mateo breathes out a breaking, "What?" Finn grabs Jude's arm tightly as if he's the only thing keeping her world from falling apart around her. And Jude? His eyes have darkened and she remembers the social worker's words when she and Spencer were working towards adopting the siblings: _Judas… well, he's had trust issues ever since his mother was arrested for prostitution…_

Oh god, Jude's never going to get over this hit.

"Spencer… he murdered someone?" Mateo whispers, dark eyes beginning to water.

Within seconds she's kneeling in front of him, grasping his hands tightly. "No honey, he didn't murder anyone. Spence would never do that, okay? He's being framed, he would never do this. You hear me?" His hero is being torn apart in front of him.

He nods jerkily, chewing his lip. "Do we get to see him?"

"Yeah, we do. The plane landed twenty minutes ago, they should be here any minute."

Finn pops up, blinking away tears. "Ve have to be ready for him, Mama, ve have to-"

There's a quiet knock and Val glances over her shoulder, watches as Tara pops her head in. "He's here."

Her daughter doesn't hesitate, speeding out of the room before she can even process the words. Mateo follows behind a bit slower, but he's still out of there before Val can push herself off of the floor.

But Jude? Jude doesn't move. He just stares at the floor, jaw set, tears bubbling up in his eyes. And her heart breaks.

Everything in her longs to follow her younger kids, but instead she sits next to her oldest, places a hand on his knee. "He didn't do it, Jude."

"I know," he croaks, swallowing audibly. "But he… I can't… Finn and I can't go srough zis again, Mama."

"It'll be over soon, Liebling. The BAU is going to get him out, okay? Your aunts and uncles… they're going to save him."

A forbidden tear rolls down his cheek. "I can't lose him too, Mama. I _can't_."

Val wraps her arms around him, allows the unbreakable man to break in her arms. "You won't lose him, Jude. I will fight like hell to make sure he comes back to us safely, okay? We aren't going to lose your father."

He nods, his body shaking with sobs and she can't help but think of the scared fifteen-year-old he was when they adopted him. The first night they slept at their house. The nightmares. Spencer's words: _We'll be here for you no matter what, Jude._

They have to make sure he gets out because Jude will never forgive Spencer if he breaks his promise.

She glances towards the door, slowly disentangles herself from the teen. "We don't have long before they have to go, Jude."

He angrily wipes his tears away, sighing lowly. "Okay, okay." Val waits long enough for him dry his face with his shirt sleeve before standing and holding out towards him, looking down on her boy sadly. _God, none of them deserve this pain._

A loud clearing of his throat and Jude's getting to his feet, jogging out of the room before she can say a thing. Her heart aches at the dismissal, but she forces herself to ignore it as she follows him to see her husband.

The second Val's eyes land on him it's as if the world tilts sideways, just the slightest bit, and everything is just _wrong_. Spencer Reid shouldn't look that unkempt. Spencer Reid shouldn't have his cuffed hands hidden underneath an FBI jacket. And Spencer Reid definitely shouldn't be forcing back tears as he hugs his children as if he lets go, they'll be taken away from him forever. "I'm so sorry," she hears him whisper, voice cracking.

She hovers by the doorway, tears leaking down her cheeks as he whispers promises to them, tells them he'll come home no matter what. From the way he looks at them mournfully, it's obvious he's not sure whether he believes it. And neither do the agents hovering around them.

"Can we visit you, Dad?" Finn whimpers, looking at him with gleaming eyes. Nothing, not a word anyone could say could ever make Finn Luisa Reid believe her father is anything but a hero. Val can't help but hope it's like that for a long, long time.

Spencer glances up, meeting her eyes. Neither one of them has to say a word before he's shaking his head, sighing quietly. "They don't allow visitations for anyone under eighteen." They don't know that for certain, but there's also no way that the couple would ever allow their children to step foot inside that prison. It would break them completely, especially Finn.

"Fuck the prison system," Mateo mutters, running a hand through his hair. Val finds she quite agrees, even if it's not for the same reason he's thinking of.

"Yeah, fuck the prison system," she parrots, smirking dryly as she finally abandons the doorway. Spencer stares at her, eyes flitting to every aspect of her body, from her lips to her hands to her calves. It's almost as if he's trying to memorize her as if he doesn't already have an eidetic memory.

Without a word she steps closer to her until he can successfully maneuver his cuffed arms around her and a jagged breath escapes her lips as she squeezes him, burying her face in his neck. He doesn't smell right; he smells of blood and sweat rather than ink and grape suckers and her lavender perfume. It just makes her cry even harder.

"I'm so sorry, Valerie," he whispers, kissing her hair.

She can't help but close her eyes, a whimpered plea to whatever deity out there escaping her lips. "Please, I just want to wake up now."

Then she opens her eyes and _nope_ , she's not in bed and she's still holding her husband, her friends staring pityingly at them, her children terrified for their father behind her. She's still wrapped up in this nightmare.

"I'm sorry," he says again, his voice cracking with the weight of his words.

"It's not your fault," Val replies as they finally separate from one another, her hands gripping his biceps firmly. He glances away from her and she can see the shame and disbelief coating his features. "This _isn't your fault_." God, why can't he believe that?

"Two minutes," Emily says quietly, looking as if she wants to shoot herself for saying words. Shit, she and Jude stayed in the briefing room too long.

"I love you all, okay?" Spencer spits out rapidly, almost like he's afraid he'll never get to say the words again. "I love all of you more than you can imagine."

"We love you too, Spencer," Mateo cries, wrapping his arms around his father tightly, Finn following behind as she chokes out her own proclamation.

Jude waits until the younger two step back before stepping forward, swallowing loudly. Spencer's eyes darken with fear as he stares at his oldest, Val recognizing the fear of losing Jude.

The teen's lips purse as he fidgets with his bracelet, glancing from Spencer's face to his shoulder and back as if he's afraid to look at his father for too long. Val's heart squeezes in terror because if Jude rejects him, it'll break her husband into a thousand pieces.

In a quick, sudden movement Jude throws himself at Spencer, the latter only just barely keeping his balance. "I love you, Dad," he whispers, voice cracking.

"I love you too, Judas," Spencer replies, eyes squeezed shut in an effort to keep from crying, voice muffled from where his face is buried in Jude's shoulder, the boy towering over him.

Val gently touches her son's back, rubbing gently as he shakes, the slightest indicator that he's about to break. After a moment he steps back, almost immediately grabbing his sister's hand fiercely.

Devin steps forward next, her hug quick and brief before she pulls away, arms still draped over Spencer's shoulders. "You come back to us, you hear?"

The corner of his lip quirks upward and he nods. "Of course."

"Good. Love you, dork," she says, ruffling his hair and hopping away before he can slap her hand.

"Love you too, jerk."

And then it's her turn and she wraps her arms around him once again, pressing a kiss to his neck. "I love you, babe."

He sighs quietly, kisses her hair. "I love you too, sweetie."

"Time to go," Emily says almost embarrassedly, taking Spencer's arm.

Val nods, pulling away from him and wrapping her arms around herself, fighting tears as Spencer says once more, "I love you guys," before allowing Emily and Luke to lead him into the elevator.

Liquid whiskey eyes meet chocolate one last time, desperation dancing through the chocolate and without a second thought, she's shoving her arm in before the elevator doors can shut, firmly putting her hands against the metal and pushing them back open. "Valerie," Emily says, a depressed warning in her voice, but she ignores it in favor of speaking, staring deep into her husband's eyes, the person she loves the most in the world.

"You're going to survive this, babe. You hear me? You're going to survive." He cocks his head at her odd choice of words and she rushes on, unable to keep them inside her a moment more. "I'm not going to tell you that you'll be okay when all this is over because I can't know that for sure. But I can promise you that you're going to survive because you're a goddamn survivor, okay? You're going to come back to me, and Jude, and Finn, and Mateo, and the rest of your family. And whenever you do, we'll be there for you, no matter what. If you're not okay, we'll help you until one day, you can say that you're okay truthfully. No matter what."

Spencer stares at her for a moment before finally stepping forward and pressing his lips to hers. Their final kiss is quick, chaste, everything she wishes it was the opposite of. Yet he still manages to leave her breathless and he pulls away and whispers, "I love you, Valerie Reid," looking dead into her eyes.

_This is it._

"I love you too, Spencer Reid."

And then she's staring at the metal of the elevator doors, surrounded by her family and friends, yet feeling utterly alone.


	10. First Date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Valerie and Spencer go on their first date.

_**Takes Place In: Season Four** _

If you ask Valerie Janes how she got into this situation, she'll tell you that she has no idea.

And honestly?

She really doesn't.

It's all just sort of a blur after Spencer stuttered out, "Wo-would you possibly want to- maybe- possibly go out sometime?", cheeks bright red and eyes flicking around the store, looking at anything but her.

Val has no idea what she said back, or how she got home that night, or how she worked today, or how she even got to the park.

All she knows is that she's standing in the park in a pink sundress and Vans, leaning against the pole holding up the swing set, and smiling brightly as Spencer approaches her.

"Hey!" She crows, internally cringing at how overly excited she sounds. Especially when she starts examining him and notices exactly how good he looks in a dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up and jeans.

_Especially_ then.

"Hey, Val. Um… how are you?" He looks a bit like he's going to kill himself already and she decides then and there that this utter dork must be protected.

"I'm amazing now that you're here." _Way too cheesy, what the hell, Val?_

The corner of his lip twitches upwards. "Same on this end." _Good going, Val!_

She can't help but flush at the feeling of his eyes on her, avoiding his gaze as she sits in the tallest swing. "Want to swing?"

Amazing. Off to an incredibly awkward start.

He sits next to her, stretching his legs out in front of him. "So… have you read any good books lately?"

Oh yes, this. This is what Valerie Janes was born to talk to about.

She launches into a way-too-detailed rant about the last book she read, _The Miseducation of Cameron Post._ and honestly, just an amazing read all around.

It's only when she looks over that she notices Spencer staring at her fondly, eyes bright. She smirks. "I really am a beauty, aren't I?"

The internal struggle is real with that one.

Finally his confident side wins out and he's smiling, eyes flicking down to her lips. "Yeah, you are."

Oh, he's funny if he thinks he's getting a kiss this early on. Though that's not to say she isn't tempted.

How could someone not be tempted to kiss Spencer Reid?

She smiles brightly before leaning back in her swing, allowing her hair to brush the ground as she stares at the rapidly moving sky. "Do you ever just want to be a kid again? Stare at the sky as you swing, get dizzy, just in awe of something so... normal?"

"I never did that as a kid."

Val slams her heels against the grass, looking at Spencer. "What?"

Shrugging, he twists lazily on the swing, glancing at her. "I rarely went to the park as a kid and when I did, I was usually just reading on a park bench."

She blinks in disbelief. "You- okay, later we're going to discuss how much your childhood was lacking in fun, but for now you're going to swing and stare at the sky and take delight in it, okay? Okay."

Spencer chuckles, shaking his head with a small smile. "Oh really?"

"Really. I mean, I can't date a guy who's never taken delight in staring at the sky as all of the blood rus

hes to their head, feeling the slight tickle of fear when they almost slide off."

Never in her life has she see a grown-ass man start swinging so hurriedly.

Jesus Christ, never in her life has she wanted to kiss a guy more because _god, why does he have to be so adorable?_

Valerie laughs out loud as his shaggy hair flaps back and forth in the breeze he's creating, the broad smile of delight lighting up his features. "Why is this so… I don't know?"

"Amazing? No idea. To me it feels… timeless, I guess? No matter what age you are, staring at the sky as you swing will make you feel like you're being taken away to another world. When I was a kid I used to imagine that with every pump, fairies were bringing me closer to the sky, allowing to me to fly in the sky. At least, until I would inevitably lose my grip and fly out of the swing. My brother says I've got brain damage because of it."

Spencer digs his heels into the grass, quirks an eyebrow. "You've got a brother? How come I've never heard about him?"

"No idea, especially considering I have three. Kieran, Gabe, and Tommy."

"I'm beating you in the siblings' department by two then," he replies, chuckling.

Her jaw drops. "You have five siblings? That makes six of you! How'd your mom push out that many? Wait, that's a stupid thing to say, just ignore it and backtrack to 'five siblings?', yeah?"

A smile overtakes his lips as he shakes his head. "No, they aren't my actual siblings. I'm actually an only child, they're just my team mates."

The way his eyes light up at the mere thought of them betray his true feelings. "But you consider them to be family?"

He clears his throat. "Um- I guess?"

She admires the way the light hits him, highlighting his jawline and accentuating the bobbing of his Adam's apple as he swallows. "Can't wait to meet them, then."

_Oh, that was way too fast._

In one smooth movement Valerie pushes herself to her feet, pushing her hair behind her ear and pulling down the hem of her dress. "Shall we go find something else to do?" She avoids his eyes resolutely, her skin burning from where she can feel his gaze on her.

"Sure. Do you have any ideas?" His words come out slow as he stands, steps closer to her. Everything is on fire.

"Dinner?" Much higher than usual, almost an embarrassing amount. "Maybe Chinese?"

Spencer shrugs, smiling lazily. "As long as you know that I can't use chopsticks ahead of time."

"Babe, if you think you're getting out of my award-winning chopsticks class, then you're no genius."

_~o~_

They've only been at the restaurant for twenty minutes and he already looks like he'd rather be anywhere but here.

Val's newly done nails drum against her knee as Spencer glances around the restaurant for the third time, slender fingers fidgeting with the hair tie around his wrist. She runs over everything that's happened since they left the park: they picked a restaurant, she drove them there, they ordered. Had she said something wrong? Did he not like her driving style, what she ordered? Was he seriously against the whole chopsticks thing?

Their waitress, a slender redhead, glides up to the table, settling their plates in front of them. "You two call me over if you need anything else, okay?"

She flashes a smile. "Will do, thank you."

And then it's awkward again.

Allowing her hair to fall to the side, a sort of make-shift armor, Valerie digs into her vegetable lo mein, using the chopsticks expertly. What can she say to break the silence?

"So, FBI agent, hm?" _Who brings up work on a first date? Idiot!_

Spencer swallows, eyebrows furrowing. "Yeah, FBI agent."

"Not much fun?"

He chokes on a laugh. _I got a laugh!_ "Definitely not. More like dark and depressing."

Valerie brushes her hair behind her ear. "I can imagine. Well, I can't imagine because I'd rather have some hope for the world, but I get what you mean. Which begs the question," _Red alert Valerie Janes!_ "Why do you do it?"

The smile she'd earned falls away. He shrugs half-heartedly, avoiding her eyes. "Everyone wants to save the world; you know?"

_Or maybe everyone wants to save that one person._ The pained look in his eyes agrees with her.

Val clears her throat, gestures to the remainder of her lo mein. "Well, I'd like to save the rest of this deliciousness for lunch tomorrow. How about you?"

His lips lift at the corners, just the slightest. "Let's get out of here."

After agreeing that since both of them need to be up early for work tomorrow (him mostly, considering she pretty much makes her own hours) she drives him back to his apartment, listening to her favorite oldies-but goodies and educating him about the best music of the fifties. The genius may know a lot about historical events from the time period, but he's got nothing on her musical knowledge.

Val pulls Annabell over in front of his apartment building, cutting her rant short. "Anyway, we're here." Her stomach sinks at the thought of leaving him.

Spencer unbuckles, hand on the car door handle, but he doesn't move. "Valerie, I really like you…"

_No!_ "Are you about to break up with me before we've even started dating?"

Those pretty brown eyes widen as he shakes his head, hair flopping around madly. "No! No, not at all. It's just… I'm not sure if you'll want to date me after I propose this."

Her filter shorts out. "Are you secretly really kinky?"

Spencer just about drops the hairband he'd started fiddling with. "What? No!"

"I mean, not that that would be an issue, I could work with that, it's just- wait, forget I said all of that."

He looks at her, an amused smile breaking over his lips. "You are something special, Valerie Janes."

"Whatever you say, Reid. Now what is it?"

He hesitates, not meeting her eyes. "I'd… like to keep our relationship a secret." _Oh._ Val looks at her hands, mind whirling with _is he embarrassed of me?_ and _oh my god, am I the side chick he wants to keep a secret?_ He seems to read her thoughts, hurriedly continuing. "It's because of my job. People get hurt on the job often and sometimes UnSubs target loved ones of agents."

Val quirks an eyebrow, the corner of her lips pulling upwards. "You don't want them to target me because you like me?"

"I wouldn't them to target you even if I didn't like you, but yes."

Without a second thought she leans over and presses a kiss to his cheek. "Yes, we can keep it a secret. But you really should have told me this beforehand, I've already told my best friend all about you."

Spencer nods, eyes still locked on her lips. "Oh well?" His voice is an octave higher than usual.

She laughs, playfully pushing his shoulder. "Get to bed, babe. You've got work, remember? We can go over the little details later."

He's like a robot as he chokes out, "Okay," still high-pitched, still blushing madly. It's adorable. Val loves it.

He's halfway up the walk when she rolls out the window and shouts, "Call me later, stud!" and peeling down the street.

Okay. So this isn't going to be like every other relationships Val's had. She can work with that.

Especially since it's Spencer Reid.

 


	11. Prepare for the Artillery, Babe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Christmas.
> 
> A time of friends, family, and presents, which was surrounded by happiness and love.
> 
> Also, immense stress.
> 
> Especially when your boyfriend is finally meeting your family for the first time after two years of dating.

Valerie releases a loud groan as she gathers up a handful of gifts, trying to balance a small one on top of the pile. “Babe, could you help me out with this for a second?”

“Only if you help me choose a tie, please?” Spencer enters the living room, holding two ties: one red and plastered with Christmas trees and the other blue with snowflakes.

Her heart warms at the sight. “Definitely snowflakes, especially considering I’m the one who got it for you. Now help me get these out to the car before I decide that you don’t deserve a present this year.”

He rolls his eyes, the corners of his lips quirking upward as he drapes the ties across the back of her couch and takes a handful of gifts from her, leaving Val to restack her arms with the last of the gifts. “Okay,” Val begins as they walk out of her apartment and down the stairs, “I’ll go ahead and start the car and warm it up while you grab our coats and your- holy fuck it’s cold!- tie, okay?”

“You realize you’re subjecting yourself to more cold by sitting in the car, right?” Spencer points out, raising an eyebrow as she sets some her presents down on the trunk and fish her keys out of her pocket before unlocking the door so they can put them in the backseat.

“Yes, but I also want to double check my road trip playlist before we leave and make sure I’ve got an even mixture of our music. Do you _really_ want to be in charge of that?” She questions, raising an eyebrow questioningly.

He raises an eyebrow. “As if you’d let me touch one of your playlists.”

Val can’t help but smile brightly. “You know me so well!”

Spencer laughs softly, rolling his eyes. “I’ll be back.”

“See you in a minute, then.” Valerie gets in and starts the car, beginning to glance through the playlist titled “Prepare For the Artillery, Babe”. Her boyfriend hasn’t been allowed to see the title in the slightest. The playlist is a mixture of calming songs that he likes and music that has always made her feel confident, so she hopes they’ll do the trick for him.

Spencer is jogging out to the car within minutes, sliding into the passenger seat and tossing their coats in back, pressing a kiss to her cheek. “I can’t wait to meet your family,” he says as Val steps on the gas, starting up the music with her free hand.

“Same. Wait- I already know my family, I mean that I can’t wait for you to meet my family. Obviously.” She glances at him, eyes narrowed. “Over two years and you still fuck me up. Why is that?”

He grins. “Either it’s because you’re just naturally awkward or I’m just too much for you to handle.”

“Definitely the former.”

“Oh yeah, definitely.”

_~o~_

“Have I mentioned lately that I’m about to throw up?”

Val cuts her eyes at him. “Four times since we entered Boston.”

Spencer smiles sheepishly. “I’m sorry sweetie, it’s just that… we kept our relationship a secret from your family for two years, Val. That can’t be the best first impression, you know?”

She can’t decide whether to agree or refute his worries. On one hand, Thomas and Gabe will probably understand where they were coming from and, besides the obvious worries, will probably get over it. But Kieran? It’ll take a lot of grovelling on their parts to get his forgiveness.

“I think they’ll all get over it, it’ll just take a while. There’ll be a lot of grilling you because they missed out on getting to know you earlier.”

“That’s to be expected,” he sighs, running a hand through his hair. She’s about to say something comforting- what exactly, she isn’t sure yet- when she realizes Kieran’s driveway is in sight. “Something comforting to make you feel better… Hey, there’s Kieran’s house!”

He sends an exasperated look in her direction. “Seriously?”

“Look,” she begins, parking the car along the side of the road and turning to face him, “They’re going to adore you, okay? They’ve had a month to get used to the fact that I’ve been dating you for two years and they didn’t know about it, so most likely they won’t be as mad as they could possibly be. My brothers definitely won’t go easy on you, but they’ll get over it soon, okay? As soon as they see that you make me happy, they’ll decide that they love you too.”

He nods slowly, Adam’s apple bobbing. “Okay… okay, we’ve got this. I’ve got this.”

“Yes, yes you do.” She smiles softly and leans forward, pressing a light kiss against his lips before pulling back. “Now, my nieces and nephews will be out any moment, so let’s-”

“ _TÍA VALLEY_!”

Val turns just in time to see a small, bundled body racing out the front door, followed by an even smaller bundled body. “Brooklyn, Dmitri!” She’s tumbling out the car within seconds, not even bothering to grab her coat before wrapping the kids in a tight hug, ignoring the snow seeping into her shirt from their coats. “How are you, kiddos?”

“We missed you!” Brooklyn crows, blue eyes wide and excited.

“I missed you guys too! Where’s Phoenix? She inside?”

Dmitri nods sagely. “She said, ‘It’s too cold for my fire, ‘Mitri’.” His “Phoenix voice” is dead on. It’s almost creepy to hear the four-year-old mimic his sister’s voice

“Not surprising in the slightest, it’s forever too cold for her fire.” She glances back at where Spencer hovers awkwardly by the car, fingertips drumming against his legs nervously. “Hey, do you two want to be the first to meet someone extremely very special to me?”

Dmitri and Brooklyn exchange excited looks, peeking over her shoulder so they can see her boyfriend. “Yeah!”

Val smiles brightly, standing back up and gesturing to Spencer. He straightened and strode forward, kneeling in front of them like she had just been. “Hi, I’m Spencer Reid, and you must be… Brooklyn and Dmitri,” he says, pointing to the wrong child with each name.

“No!” The two cried in unison, giggles leaking from their lips. “I’m Brooklyn-” “I’m Dmitri!”

Spencer hits his forehead lightly. “Oh, how could I mess you two up? Ridiculous of me.”

“Maybe it’s ‘cause we’re twins?”

The corner of his lips twitch upwards. “Yeah, that’s gotta be it.”

Val can’t force away the smile on her face as she makes her way over to the trunk of her car and begins pulling their bags out. Spencer’s voice drifts over to her as he continues chatting with the kids. “Hey Dmitri, did you know that in Greek your name means earth-lover? And Brooklyn, yours is associated with water?”

“Yeah!” Dmitri claps his gloved hands, cheeks reddening further with delight. “Daddy and Mommy named us after all the el- ellie- ella-”

“Elements,” Val calls, using her free hand to close the trunk.

“Right! Mommy wants another baby, they don’t have a kid named after air. Daddy doesn’t want another baby though.” Brooklyn leans forward conspiratorially, whispering loudly in Spencer’s ear, “They’ve been arguing about it a lot.”

Spencer blinks, looks at Valerie with wide eyes. She just shrugs. _This is definitely new to me too._ “Oh… I’m sure your mommy and daddy will work it out. From what your Tía Valley has told me, they love each other very much.”

“They do! They love us a lot too!”

“Then I’m sure they’ll be just fine.” He glances back at the car where Val is standing by the trunk, trying to balance her makeup bag and Spencer’s messenger bag along with her suitcase. “Hey, who wants to help Tía Val bring in the presents? You can even put them under the tree.”

“Yeah!” Brooklyn and Dmitri race towards the car, pulling open the back door and piling their arms with gifts. Val can’t help but giggle at the sight of them trying to juggle the presents, Brooklyn yelping when she almost drops one and Dmitri sticking out his tongue in serious concentration. Oh, she loves them so much.

… Now all she can imagine is Spencer being that adorable with their own kids and her entire body feels like it’s on fire even though it’s twenty degrees out.

Spencer strolls over to her and takes his suitcase and messenger bag, leaving each of them to grab another present from the back seat. “I will never get over how adorable you are with them and now I really want a kid and this is a major disappointment and _damn_ , why are kids so adorable?”

He blinks, at her, mouth parted as if to say something, before shaking his head. “No idea, Val. I’ve got no idea.”

She smirks. “Oh, I love it when you say that.”

Rolling his eyes as they follow the very slow moving four-year-olds, he says, “You really are a punch to my self-esteem sometimes.”

She smirks up at him, nudging him with her elbow. “I’m just doing my part in making sure you never become a conceited ass.” And with that, she shifts her present to the side and pushes herself onto her tiptoes. “I love you,” she whispers into his lips, feeling his pull into a smile at her words.

“I love you too, sweetie.”

“I’m sorry, did you just call Valerie Mariana Janes… ‘sweetie’?” questions a low, rough voice. She can already imagine the smirk on her brother’s lips without turning to look.

Pulling away from her boyfriend, she sends a glare towards the doorway where her brother, Thomas, is leaning against the doorway, their sister-in-law Teresa standing next to him with a pleased smile. Spencer’s cheeks flush from the attention. “Like you and Beckett don’t have any weird pet names for each other. Shall I bring up the whole ‘puppy butt’ fiasco?”

Thomas narrows his eyes as Teresa bursts into laughter, elbowing him in the side. “You walked right into that one, Tommy. _Anyway_.” She turns back to Val and Spencer, smiling widely. “Come inside, lovebirds, everybody can’t wait to meet you, Spencer. It is Spencer, right?”

“Spencer Reid, yes. And you’re Teresa Janes?” He questions as they follow her inside, Thomas sliding past them with a whispered, “Ten out of ten, sweet sister of mine,” that makes her grin brightly and her boyfriend send her a weird look.

“Yep, that would be me. And this,” she begins when they enter the living room, “is my husband, Kieran, his brother, Gabriel, and Thomas’ fiance, Beckett.” The three men glance up from the laptop they’re pouring over, four blue eyes and two green landing right on Spencer. Dropping her bags and the present she’d grabbed, Val decides to take the attention off of her already anxious boyfriend by doing what she does best: hugging until the victim can’t breathe.

“ _Mis idiotas favoritos_!” She cries, launching herself at the boys and draping herself across their laps, arms spread from Beckett to Kieran uncomfortably, face buried in Gabriel’s chest.

“ _Pequeno melocoton_!” Gabriel shouts back, wrapping his arms around her waist and squeezing as hard as he can, which is surprisingly hard for a sixteen-year-old boy who hasn’t touched any athletic equipment since elementary school.

“Val, you’ve returned from the dead and come back to visit your poor, lonely family!” Beckett says dramatically, planting a kiss on her forehead when she glances up at him with a bright smile.

“I visited you on Thanksgiving. We had it at your apartment. I literally saw your dick Thanksgiving morning!”

He wrinkles his nose. “You also saw Thomas’s, don’t be pissy at me.”

She straightens up immediately, ignoring Gabriel’s yelp when she pushes herself up with his thighs. “And you’re the reason I saw it! It’s all your fault, you twit!”

“You sure we didn’t accidentally invite Devin too?” questions a low drawl. Val turns herself around on Beckett, shoving her hand over his mouth when he goes to complain. Kieran is raising an eyebrow at her, glancing from her to a spot just behind her and then back to her. Her stomach drops to her feet as he says, “So, this is the boyfriend you hid from us for two years, hm?”

_Oh. My. God._

Teresa groans from where she’s perched on the arm of the couch, reaching over and batting the back of his head in sync with Val punching his chest as hard as possible. He lets out a ragged wheeze, especially when she also “accidentally” knees his crotch as she gets up and walks towards her rapidly reddening boyfriend. “Babe, reminder that Kieran is the one who’s going to be asshole until he’s decided that you’re cool.”

Spencer takes a deep breath, wrapping his arm around her shoulder gently. They’ve been together long enough for her to know that while it might have started out as a technique that got her to relax, it’s morphed into something that relaxes him immensely. “Hi, Valerie’s family… I’m Spencer Reid.”

_~o~_

_Val._

_Valerie._

“Sweetie.”

Valerie finally stirs, letting out a quiet “Hm?” when she feels something warm on her neck, immediately recognizing it as Spencer’s lips. Strange, the bed feels much more lumpy than usual, not that she can fully concentrate on that with his lips moving up to her jaw.

“Sweetie, we need to get up. I just heard the kids run past our door,” he whispers against her skin and that finally gets her to open her eyes because she knows she would remember something like going through the adoption process and actually getting kids.

“I’m sorry, wh-” She freezes mid sentence, dark eyes darting around the room, trying to process the baby blue walls, a weird mix of posters of bands she liked when she was younger and pictures of Disney characters. Right, she and Spencer were given Phoenix’s bedroom last night.

Her stomach sinks as she remembers what happened the night before. It had been exactly how she’d imagined: Gabriel and Teresa welcomed him with open arms, Thomas and Beckett were a bit apprehensive but ultimately decided that he was cool if Val had been putting up with him for two years, and Kieran was still being a bit of an asshole to him but had relaxed after she had dragged him to another room and threatened to lock him out of his own house for Christmas if he didn’t settle down and actually give her boyfriend a chance. After that, Kieran was much more civil, though not exactly warm.

The kids though? The kids adored Spencer- or as Brooklyn had decided by bedtime, Tio Spencer. Kieran had just about had a heart attack when he heard that, especially when a couple minutes later Dmitri leaned over and whispered, “Spencer is really pretty,” cheeks flaming. Val had never wanted to hug her nephew more.

Val is pulled from her reverie by a loss of lips on her jaw, looking at her boyfriend accusingly as he raises an eyebrow. “Babe, why’d you stop?” She groans, her voice coming out an embarrassing mixture of breathless and whiny.

And then all of the warmth of his body pressed against hers disappears as he pushes himself off the bed, leaving her alone under the covers with a very nice view of his shirtless chest and boxers. “Because your nieces and nephews are awake, which means presents soon, which means someone will come in to wake us up and I assume you don’t want to be turned on when they come in?”

She cuts her eyes at him, sitting up and covering her shoulders with the warm comforter. “You’re a cruel man, Spencer Reid.”

He smiles sweetly at her as he pulls on a Christmas sweater JJ had bought for him last year along with Doctor Who sweatpants, something she had told him he had to wear, considering Kieran adored the show to no end. “It’s why you love me.”

Rolling her eyes, she gets up to put on her favorite Christmas pajamas, pressing a kiss to his cheek as she pulls on her shirt. “True, true. But the second we get home, you know exactly what we’re doing.”

“As you wish, sweetie.”

They each finish getting ready before heading out to the living room, where Brooklyn is playing with one of the musical ornaments, Beckett and Thomas cuddling on the couch with Beckett’s daughter Katie in their laps, blowing a bubble of drool. Kieran perches on the side of the chair, Gabriel and Dmitri sitting beside him. Val can hear Teresa and Phoenix bickering in the kitchen as she and Spencer join Beckett, Thomas, and Katie on the sofa, not hesitating to lean against Beckett and prop her feet up on her boyfriend’s lap. “Teresa and Phoenix holding us up? Oh, and also, merry Christmas, _mi familia de dorks_.”

Everybody sounds off their various well wishes  before Gabriel rolls his eyes. “Yeah. Ever since Phoenix discovered iPhones, she’s wanted one.”

“Has she forgotten that she’s nine?” Thomas questions, raising an eyebrow.

Kieran snorts. “She’s completely certain that she’s thirteen. Also, she’s in love with a girl named Jessie, so make sure to bring her up as often as possible.”

“Kieran!” Val groans, yanking a pillow from behind Spencer’s back and pegging her oldest brother with it. “You don’t just tell everyone about her crushes! No wonder she told me that she liked me more than you.”

“She did what?”

“Oooh, Tia Valley’s gonna get it!”

Kieran opens his mouth, looking ready to go off, but that’s when there’s a loud shout from the kitchen. “Kieran Jeffery Janes, get in here and help with the hot chocolate!”

Spencer taps her shoulder, leaning closer so he can whisper without Kieran hearing. “Isn’t it a bad idea to have hot chocolate when they’re about to open presents?”

She shrugs. “It’s a tradition our parents started before they died and so we keep it going in their name. Spills are just part of it, no matter what. Honestly, if Teresa had her way, you know they’d have carpet, but spills are a yearly occurrence, so they have hardwood instead.”

He nods, eyebrows crinkled in a way that shows exactly how much he doesn’t get it, but instead of saying something he just leans back and waits for Teresa, Kieran, and Phoenix to bring in the hot chocolate. Which they do a few moments later, each member of the family with their specific mug that’s brought back out specifically for this moment every Christmas. Val can’t help but grin brightly at the sight of her Wonder Woman mug that she’d picked out a couple years before(the one before that had broken in an unfortunate incident including ballet shoes and a bottle of vodka) sitting on the tray next to the Doctor Who mug she’d picked out for Spencer just days before.

“Woah, Val, you got Spencer a mug?” Beckett asks. “I only got a mug when-” He cuts off, eyes widening almost comically. “Never mind.”

Spencer sends her a weird look at the same moment Kieran glares darkly at her, everyone else’s face showing complete surprise except Teresa’s. She just looks excited as hell.

“Yes, I got Spencer a mug. Now, who’s opening presents first?” She says quickly, cheeks flushing from the attention. She’d known this would happen the second she gave Teresa the mug the night before, but she hadn’t exactly prepared herself for the moment.

“I’ll open presents!” Dmitri shouts, popping off of Gabriel’s lap and stumbling through the minefield of presents around the tree, grabbing his presents from the corner. Kieran was meticulous when it came to presents. Each person got their own wrapping paper and all their presents were all together with no overlap. Honestly, it was almost admirable.

The kids each open their presents within a couple minutes, completely demolishing the wrapping paper and, at one point, Brooklyn almost ruining the toy she’s gotten purely because of how violently she was opening her presents. Val and Spencer definitely aren’t let down by the various reactions they earn: a scream of delight from Phoenix when she opens her new Percy Jackson/Heroes of Olympus box sets, Brooklyn’s gushing of thanks over the new train set, Dmitri’s adoration of the race car that could fit multiple Barbies in it, and Katie’s… well, her spit up when she sees her new baby book. Val decides that it was because she was so excited.

The rest of her family’s reaction to their gifts are just as amazing. Never in her life has she seen a teenage boy get so excited about bath bombs, especially a 6’1, honest-to-god giant of a sixteen-year-old. Teresa gets almost weirdly excited at the sight of her brand new Psych box set(she’s got almost an unhealthy obsession with the show), though her excitement quickly depletes after Dmitri manages to knock over not only his hot chocolate but also Phoenix’s. And Thomas and Beckett’s reactions to getting Hamilton tickets? She’ll never delete the video.

But it’s Kieran’s face when he opens his gift from the two of them that really gets her. Kieran’s always had an interest in what makes serial killers do what they do though it was always more low key. But Val knew how much he loved David Rossi’s books, so when she mentioned it to Spencer, there was no question about what her oldest brother was getting for Christmas.

“Are these signed copies of _Deviance: The Secret Desires of Sadistic Serial Killers_ and _Frenzy: America’s Worst Spree Killers_?” He chokes out, looking two seconds away from flat out cuddling the books. There’s no doubt in her mind that if no one was there, he would be doing exactly that.

“Yep. You like?” Val questions, glancing over at Spencer with a wide grin. He smiles back, a bit nervously, but a bit pride mixed in there too. It’s just enough for her to switch from leaning against Beckett to cuddling into her boyfriend in one smooth motion.

“I love it! How did you manage this?”

She looks up at Spencer, tightening his arms around her. “It was all Spencer. He works with David Rossi, so he convinced him to sign them for you. Took a lot of convincing too.” A flat-out lie, but her brother doesn’t need to know that.

Kieran gapes, Spencer blushes, and Thomas lets out a low whistle. “I don’t think Kieran’s able to stay pissed anymore.”

“I’ll stop being pissed the second I meet David Rossi,” Kieran decides, trying to force back a smile by pursing his lips tightly.

Her boyfriend nods, trying to look serious, but the corners of his lips reveal his pleasure. “Of course.”

Phoenix giggles loudly from her spot by Val’s feet, smiling up at Spencer. “Yeah, you’re going to fit right in.”


End file.
